Signed Mrs. Sterling Chapter 16
When I woke up, the first thing I smelled was the familiar scent of antiseptic.
I was in a hospital VIP room.
“She’s awake! Doctor! She’s awake!”
It was Leo’s small voice, thick with tears.
I opened my eyes, squinting against the light. Sebastian was holding my hand, a bandage wrapped around his head. When he saw I was awake, the usually unflappable man’s eyes turned red.
“Hey, superhero. You scared the hell out of me.”
I moved and realized that apart from a mild concussion and a few bruises, I was mostly okay.
My eyes scanned the room and landed on Harrison, standing in the corner.
He looked terrible. He hadn’t shaved, his shirt was wrinkled and stained with grass and dirt, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He took a step forward when he saw me wake up, but froze under Sebastian’s icy glare.
“Who was the driver?” I asked weakly.
My head was pounding, but my mind was crystal clear. That hadn’t been an accident. It was attempted murder.
A dead silence fell over the room.
Finally, Sebastian spoke, his voice low and tight, like a volcano about to erupt.
“It was Old Man Rhodes. Vanessa’s father. Your family’s estate manager.”
I was stunned. I had expected something bad, but the reality sent a chill down my spine.
“Why?”
“Because Vanessa panicked,” Harrison suddenly said, his voice as raw as sandpaper. “She realized I wasn’t relieved when you signed the papers. I was losing control. She was afraid you’d freeze my assets through legal action, and even more afraid that I would go back to you.”
“So she hinted to her loyal father… that he should ‘take care’ of the problem for her.”
I looked at Harrison and felt a wave of absurdity.
“You must be some catch, Harrison, to have your fiancée’s family try to commit murder for you.”
“It wasn’t just this time.”
Sebastian cut in, his hand clenched into a white-knuckled fist. He pulled a yellow manila envelope from his briefcase—evidence from private investigators and lawyers.
He slapped the file down on the table in front of Harrison.
“Harrison, do you remember that car accident in high school? The one where Vanessa ‘saved’ me?”
Harrison nodded. “It’s why her hand was ruined. It’s why we all owe her…”
“It was a lie.”
Sebastian gritted his teeth, pointing at the newly unsealed police confession and old medical records.
“The police interrogated Rhodes. To get a lighter sentence, the old bastard confessed everything.”
“That truck back then? Rhodes arranged that too. Vanessa was never seriously injured. Her wrist had a minor fracture that had zero impact on her ability to play. She just realized she wasn’t talented enough to get into a top conservatory, and she couldn’t face the failure. So she staged the whole thing.”
“She used it to saddle both of us with a decade of survivor’s guilt. It was all a goddamn scam.”
Boom.
The truth hit the room like a lightning strike, leaving everyone speechless.
Harrison’s hands trembled as he picked up the report, his face ashen.
The muse, the damsel in distress for whom he had destroyed his family and hurt me so deeply, was a complete fraud.
“And another thing,” Sebastian added, his eyes cold. “Rhodes said Vanessa has been taking fertility drugs. She was never pregnant with your child. The ‘accidental pregnancy’ and ‘unfortunate miscarriage’ she told you about? All lies to pressure you into finalizing the divorce with Julianne.”
Harrison staggered backward, bumping into a medical cart and setting off a loud alarm.
In that moment, the sharp judgment he had always been so proud of completely shattered.
“No… that’s not possible…” he muttered, like a man who had lost his faith.