For months, Vanessa had been effortless.
Admiring.
Available.
She listened when Ethan complained that Grace had become distant.
She told him pregnancy had changed Grace.
She told him successful men needed partners who understood pressure.
She told him he deserved to enjoy what he built.
Ethan had liked the way Vanessa looked at him.
Like he was already the man magazine covers said he was.
Now that look was gone.
And without it, he suddenly saw things he had ignored.
Vanessa never left her phone unattended.
She asked detailed questions about lenders.
She knew which Harbor Crown executives would attend dinners before Ethan did.
She had encouraged the island trip.
She had been the one who insisted they use the company jet.
“Optics are part of power,” she had told him.
Now Ethan remembered something else.
Three nights ago, she had asked whether he kept paper copies of the Harbor Crown agreement.
