vantanews

Chapter 2: The Name on the Screen

I left the contract unsigned and walked out of that room without a word to anyone.

By the time I reached my car, my hands were shaking.

I pulled up my call log and searched for anything from Clover.

Nothing.

Then I checked my deleted voicemails — something I hadn't touched in months.

Three messages.

All from the same number.

All erased.

But the timestamps were still there.

The first one was sent the same night our divorce was finalized.

My chest went cold.

I called my phone carrier and asked them to recover what they could.

Twenty minutes later, a partial transcript came through.

Clover's voice.

Quiet.

Exhausted.

*"I need to tell you something.

Please call me back.

It's important."*

That was all that remained of the first message.

The second and third were gone completely.

Then I checked the six missed calls.

Every single one had been flagged and redirected — not blocked, redirected — to a number I recognized immediately.

My assistant.

Marcus.

Marcus, who had managed my phone during the final weeks of the divorce proceedings.

Marcus, who had told me Clover never tried to reach out.

I sat in that parking garage for a long time, staring at his name on my screen.

Then my phone rang again.

It was Marcus.

---

What Vance found out when he answered that call exposed a betrayal no one saw coming.

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