Chapter 2 — The Shape Beneath the Dress
Ethan waited until Vanessa’s car disappeared beyond the mansion gates.
Then he took the silver pin upstairs.
Claire was still in the guest room, packing several sweaters into a suitcase.
“What are you doing?” Ethan asked.
“I’m going to stay with Aunt Rebecca for a while.”
“Don’t leave yet.”
Claire closed the suitcase.
“Ethan, I can’t keep living in this house while your father prepares for another child.”
Ethan placed the pin on the bed.
Claire looked at it without understanding.
“It fell from Vanessa’s pocket.”
“So?”
“Look at what’s attached.”
Claire examined the beige fragment.
It stretched slightly between her fingers before returning to its original shape.
“Silicone,” she whispered.
Ethan nodded.
“I heard her asking someone for another one because the old one was losing its shape.”
Claire sat down.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“You think she’s wearing a fake stomach?”
“I think we need proof.”
Claire did not immediately agree.
Vanessa had documents.
Pregnancy test results.
Ultrasound images.
Messages from a doctor’s office.
Accusing her without undeniable evidence would only make Ethan appear desperate to protect his father.
Vanessa would cry.
Margaret would defend her.
Nathan would feel guilty for doubting the woman supposedly carrying his child.
“We can’t confront her yet,” Claire said.
“I know.”
Ethan had already considered that.
He searched online for realistic pregnancy prosthetics and discovered they could be made from silicone, attached with straps, adhesive, clips, or pins.
Some were designed for theater.
Others were sold to filmmakers.
A few looked disturbingly real beneath clothing.
The fragment on Vanessa’s pin matched the material shown in several photographs.
That evening, Nathan returned from work and found Claire’s suitcase beside the bedroom door.
His face fell.
“Are you leaving?”
“For a few days.”
“Claire, please.”
“I need space.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“I did everything you asked. I stopped seeing Vanessa alone. I gave you my phone records. I offered to take every test possible.”
“But you still believe her.”
“She has medical records.”
“Have you spoken directly to her doctor?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Vanessa said the doctor cannot discuss her information without permission.”
“Have you ever seen her receive an ultrasound?”
“No.”
“Have you ever heard the baby’s heartbeat?”
“No.”
Nathan looked confused.
Claire almost told him about the pin.
But Ethan had asked her not to.
Nathan had already been manipulated by guilt. If he confronted Vanessa too soon, she might destroy the evidence or disappear.
Claire picked up her suitcase.
“Give me three days.”
Nathan stepped aside.
He watched her leave without knowing that for the first time in weeks, she was no longer leaving because she believed his marriage was over.
She was leaving to investigate the woman who had tried to end it.
Ethan stayed behind.
That night, Vanessa returned unexpectedly.
She claimed she had forgotten her scarf.
Ethan watched from the second-floor landing as she searched the hallway floor near the staircase.
She checked beneath a table.
Then behind a decorative vase.
She was looking for the pin.
“Lose something?” Ethan asked.
Vanessa straightened quickly.
“One of my earrings.”
“What does it look like?”
“Gold.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“I’ll tell you if I find it.”
Vanessa stared at him.
The warmth disappeared from her eyes.
“You’ve always been a clever boy.”
“That’s what my teachers say.”
“Clever boys sometimes make dangerous mistakes.”
Ethan’s smile vanished.
Vanessa walked toward the door.
Before leaving, she looked back.
“Your mother has already lost her husband,” she said quietly. “Don’t make her lose anything else.”
The door closed.
Ethan remained still.
Vanessa knew he had found something.
May you like
And now the investigation was no longer a secret.
It had become a race.
