Chapter 52 Vanessa Returns
Harper was reviewing contractor invoices at the Adriatic when the front door opened behind her.
"We're closed for renovation," she called without looking up. "Grand opening isn't until spring."
"I know. I wanted to talk to you before then."
Harper froze at the voice. She turned slowly.
Vanessa Chen stood in the lobby wearing an expensive coat and a cold smile.
"How are you out of jail?" Harper asked, her hand instinctively going to her phone.
"Good behavior. Early release. My lawyer's very good." Vanessa walked further into the lobby, examining the restoration work. "Beautiful job. Your aunt would be proud."
"What do you want?"
"To warn you. Woman to woman. Before you make a terrible mistake." Vanessa turned to face her. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"
Harper's blood ran cold. "How did you know that?"
"Sebastian has a tell when he's stressed. He touches his wedding ring. He's been doing it constantly the past few days." Vanessa smiled. "Plus my mother still has sources. She told me about your condition before they arrested her."
"Your mother tried to destroy us."
"My mother tried to protect her family. There's a difference." Vanessa moved closer. "Harper, I'm not here to threaten you. I'm here to help you understand what you're getting into."
"I don't need your help."
"Yes you do. Because you think Sebastian loves you. That he'll be a good father. That your marriage is different from what he and I had." Vanessa's expression was almost pitying. "It's not. He's incapable of real intimacy. I learned that the hard way."
Harper wanted to leave but something kept her rooted. "Sebastian and I are nothing like you two."
"Aren't you? He proposed to you with a contract first, just like he did with me. He keeps you at arm's length emotionally. He runs when things get hard. Sound familiar?"
"He came back."
"This time. What about next time? What about when the baby's screaming at three AM and he's exhausted and overwhelmed?" Vanessa's voice was gentle, almost kind. "Harper, I was engaged to Sebastian for two years. I know him. The real him, not the version he shows when he's trying to prove something."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying he used me to secure a business deal. Proposed when his board questioned his stability. Kept our relationship surface-level and transactional. When I pushed for real emotional connection, he ended things." Vanessa paused. "He's doing the same thing with you. The contract marriage. The grand gestures. It's all performance."
"You're wrong."
"Am I? Then why did he leave you pregnant and alone to process his feelings? Why is he suggesting you wait to decide about the baby?" Vanessa tilted her head. "He told you to consider termination, didn't he?"
Harper's silence was answer enough.
"I thought so. Because that's who Sebastian Colton is. He takes what he needs from women and discards them when they become inconvenient. A baby is the ultimate inconvenience."
"Get out."
"I'm trying to help you. Save you from the years of pain I went through believing he'd change." Vanessa's voice hardened. "He won't change, Harper. He'll string you along with promises and gestures and moments of vulnerability. But when it matters, when you really need him, he'll choose himself every time."
"That's not true. He's fought for us. For our marriage."
"Has he? Or has he fought for his image? His company? His reputation?" Vanessa moved toward the door. "Ask yourself honestly: would Sebastian have proposed to you without the contract? Would he have pursued you if there was nothing in it for him?"
Harper felt doubt creep in despite herself.
"You're poison," Harper said. "You're trying to destroy what Sebastian and I have because you're bitter."
"I'm trying to save you from making my mistakes. From wasting years on a man who'll never truly love you." Vanessa paused at the door. "Keep the baby or don't. That's your choice. But don't keep it expecting Sebastian to be someone he's not. He'll disappoint you. They always do."
Then she was gone, leaving Harper alone in the lobby with her words echoing.
Harper sat on the floor, her back against the restored front desk, trying to breathe.
Was Vanessa right? Was Sebastian just repeating patterns? Was their love real or just another transaction he'd convinced himself meant something?
Her phone buzzed. Sebastian calling.
Harper stared at it, Vanessa's words replaying. "He'll choose himself every time."
She let it go to voicemail.
Because she needed to know: was Vanessa telling the truth?
Or was this just another manipulation?
And how could Harper tell the difference when her own doubts made everything unclear?