Lured into Lies by Melanie Martins

Chapter 25

Dieren, December 3, 2020

Alexander Van Dieren

I glance once more at my watch as I speed up my pace to head to the grand salon—a room that features the biggest medieval tapestry we own, high ceilings, and a long varnished wooden table with ten chairs. Despite the impressive interior decor, I don’t have any fond memories of the room. When I was a child and used to do something wrong, Mom would announce my punishment in there in front of all my sisters and the staff. According to her, the more eyes on me, the better. And while the punishments were nothing one can’t get over with time, back then it was a very humiliating and dreadful moment for me.

To my surprise, I see Stuart standing in front of the door, almost as if he’s guarding it. However, he’s also holding a silver tray, and as I get closer, I can see my sisters’ smartphones and other electronic devices resting on it.

“No tech allowed inside,” Stuart confirms what I already had in mind. I reach into my pocket and take out my iPhone, leaving it on the tray. That’s honestly the only tech I have on me. As I enter into the room, my eyes lay on Mom, Julia, and Yara sitting at the table, apparently waiting for me.

“You are late.” For Mom, that’s a way to say hello.

“I suppose this urgent meeting isn’t to talk about the flower selections,” I reply as I walk in and take a seat in front of her.

My ass has barely touched the chair when I hear Yara already asking, “How come you told Petra about Janette?” Well, at least she doesn’t waste time with her inquisition.

“How come you know that in the first place?” I snap back. “Did she tell you?”

“No,” Yara answers, her face unusually serious. “But Emma fessed it out in front of me.”

What! I close my eyes to contain the reel my heart takes at the news. Fuck, I can’t believe it. She promised me she wouldn’t speak about it. Even though I know Emma well, I told her not to talk about it to anyone, including Emma. With a disconcerted look, I simply say, “I just told her Janette died from a car accident. She wouldn’t stop about it.”

"From a car accident?” Yara repeats, containing a laugh. “Oh, thank God. We were so worried.” I squint my eyes wondering if she is being sarcastic or not. “You didn’t mention me or anything about the ceremony?”

“Of course not!” I snap back immediately. “I’d never tell her about that. She was constantly asking what her mom had against me, and I just told her about the incident. Glossing over a few details…”

“I truly hope she won’t say a word to Jan or to anyone in his family,” Mom takes over, her expression sharing the same concern as my sisters. “It seems like your future wife has got a problem with keeping her mouth shut.”

Exhaling a swish of air, I cannot disagree. After all, her concerns are quite legitimate. “I never thought she’d repeat it to anyone. Even to Emma.” Then I wonder if she told Emma about anything else regarding our relationship. I feel tempted to go and ask her, but at just two nights from the wedding, and after all our fights, I need to be the last one throwing gas into the fire.

“What if Tess speaks out?” Mom casually asks. “We are two days from the wedding. We cannot risk her going forward and reporting to Jan.”

“So far, she hasn’t done anything. And maybe she won’t.”

“So naïve, my God,” Mom rebukes, rolling her eyes at me. “She’s just waiting for the right moment to do something. Maybe her plan is to have the police walking over at your reception to arrest you. Who knows!”

“You have been following her, no?” I ask. “You’d know if she was up to something.”

"We have been monitoring her every move, yes.” She pauses, considering me. “But I need you to understand that when the time comes, our agents will need to be ready to act.”

My heart sinks into my gut as I hear her telling me this. After having just promised Petra I won’t have anything to do with what the future holds for her mom, this feels like a nightmare. “And what are they gonna do?”

“Alex,” Julia begins, seeing how mute Mom has become. “We truly believe that what happened is something nobody should know about. If Jan finds out his daughter died at that, well, party and if he knows what you did to her right before…” She lets her words trail off, and my worst fears take over. “The De Vries are not a family we want as an enemy.”

“We’ve never interfered before,” Yara adds. “But this is a family matter. If Tess exposes you, she’ll expose everyone.” I’ve never seen Yara so serious before. “And that doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Nor with me,” Julia agrees with Yara, which seems to be an historic moment to witness.

“And obviously neither with me,” Mom also adds.

“If you kill her, Petra will find out,” I tell them. “And I cannot fathom lying to her once again to protect you all.”

“Don’t worry. We can handle the trauma afterward,” Mom casually replies. “So can we at least agree that when the time comes, we can take care of Ms. Hagen?”

* * *

Since Petra is spending the rest of the evening studying for her exams, I head to the indoor pool and swim for the next hour as I try to detox myself from the dark subjects of the meeting. Why don’t we ever talk about something light and uplifting in those meet-ups? Last time we were reunited like that it was to decide Dad’s fate—they were debating whether or not to get ride of him in such a clinical manner that it was vomit-inducing. Fortunately, I managed to persuade them to simply send him away to exile, which was not an easy task to do given how upset Mom was. As I come to think of it, that might explain why that room always carries the same heavy energy each time I leave. As I walked in, I naïvely thought for once it’d be a different type of gathering. Maybe a heartwarming encounter between siblings to talk about my wedding, or about marriage in general, and all the dos and don’ts… Naïve indeed. As I reach the other side of the pool, I stop to catch my breath, but before I can dip again, I hear someone walking in.

“You competing or what?” And as I turn, my eyes widen in surprise.

“Sebastian? Jan?” For fuck’s sake, what are they doing here?

While I can’t bring myself to smile, they, on the other hand, remain just as excited. “You can’t even say hi?”

“It seems like you have just seen a ghost,” Jan says as I remain in the pool, staring at them.

And what a ghost, indeed. Jan De Vries is standing right in front of me with Sebastian, all smiley now that Julia changed his sentence to a fine. Since the duo has no idea whatsoever of the meeting I just came from, I put on my best mood to go and greet them.

After taking my towel and getting somewhat dry, I give them a quick hug and a pat on the back. “What brought you guys here?”

“Well, Julia told me she was here, so I thought why not come over with Jan and throw some kind of improvised bachelor party?” A bachelor party with Jan? How fun… “And we also have to celebrate the fact that he’s no longer going to jail.”

“Aren’t they going to the Supreme Court, though?” I ask them.

“Yeah, but I don’t think they stand a chance,” Jan answers, his tone filled with hope, carrying a big smile on his face.

After changing clothes, we go upstairs to the petit salon where a fire is already warming up the room. I see Stuart coming over with three flutes and a bottle of Louis Roederer. I’m not sure what we are celebrating, though, my wedding? His victory? Maybe both. Stuart opens the bottle and pours some champagne into each flute.

Once we all have a glass, Jan raises his to make a toast. “Well, this toast is for you both. To Sebastian, for all your support during my trial, and to Alex, who is gonna know what hell a marriage can be.” We let out a quick laugh, but Jan proceeds, “To loyalty and friendship.”

And I hear Sebastian repeating those words before we can take a sip.

After a few seconds of silence, Jan announces, “I received an anonymous letter today.”

An anonymous letter? Despite my growing curiosity, I do my best to appear unimpressed. “And what was it about?”

“Someone said they know where Janette’s body is.” What! My heart skips a beat, and I give a quick glance at Sebastian, who stands in front of me as he hides his anxiety by taking another sip from his glass. “They said it’s buried in an abandoned farm in Den Bosch.” I also take another sip, trying to conceal my nervousness. “It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?” Jan seems lost in his own thoughts as he looks away, before drawing out a breath and saying, “After twenty years of searching for it…”

“And you don’t know who gave you that letter?” I ask, sounding intrigued.

“No, I received it by mail. Unfortunately, the sender’s name was my own daughter.”

“What?” Sebastian blurts out.

“Yep, like my own daughter telling me where her body is.”

“Maybe it’s from the guy who abducted her,” I tell them, since this was the theory we came up with.

“We have no actual evidence she was abducted,” Jan replies. “But finding her body will at least mean that I can hold a proper funeral.”

“Well, if you need help, you can count us in,” Sebastian says immediately, putting an arm around Jan’s shoulders.

Damn it. Now I regret Julia changing his sentence and not sending him to jail. I’m certain this letter was signed Tess Hagen, and she is just taunting me. She knew Jan would come and share the news since this is something he has always been very open about with us. This is a provocation. She wants to get a reaction from me—a violent one. Fucking psycho she is, trying to break my relationship with Petra even if it means putting her own life at risk.

Thank God Sebastian leads the conversation elsewhere as he asks Jan about his kids and the divorce he’s going through.

After two hours spent in the petit salon, I finally escort them outside to where they have their cars parked. Once Jan leaves the estate, Sebastian doesn’t waste time to say, “Tess is really playing with you.” And he sounds more annoyed than worried. “The next letter she sends to Jan will be the police report. Mark my words.”

And I know exactly where he wants to go with this talk. “We are not gonna kill her,” I tell him straight away.

“If Jan knows…” Sebastian inhales deeply with concern.

“If you do that, you’re gonna create more problems, believe me.”

“Killing her is preventing more problems,” he ripostes. “Petra doesn’t even like her.”

“It’s not that simple…” I let my words trail off while Sebastian keeps looking at me, his eyes narrowing.

“What do you mean?”

A gush of air rolls of my lips, and I glance around to make sure we are alone and take one step closer to him. Lowering my voice, I say, “If I’m involved in any way in this, Petra might seek a divorce.”

“What?” His expression shifts instantly. “Does she know what’s at stake?”

“She knows about Janette’s incident, yes, and she didn’t take it well when she found out I changed some details about her death.” I pause, pondering my next words. “Whatever you do, I can’t be involved in any way.”

Sebastian starts rubbing his beard, considering me. “Are you gonna denounce us if she asks you to?”

With furrowed brows, I snap, “Of course not. We just want to remain out of this mess, that’s all.”

Yet, Sebastian doesn’t seem convinced. “But what if she asks you to or else she divorces you?”

I can’t help but chuckle. “She’s not gonna ask me to throw my family under the bus, that’s ridiculous.”

“I hope you are right.” Sebastian and I remain silent for a few moments, his question still hanging in the air. “Well, see you on Saturday. We do the groomsmen brunch at De Haar, right?” After nodding at him, he gives me a quick hug, before opening his door. “If you need anything, just let me know.” And he gets into his car.