Chapter 6
"Vivienne, look at me."
The doctor leaned over my bed while nurses rushed around us.
I tried.
My vision kept blurring.
"We're repositioning you to improve blood flow to the baby."
They rolled me onto my left side.
The monitor screamed.
Daniel remained at the doorway.
A nurse told him to leave.
He didn't argue.
He only looked at me.
I saw terror in his face.
Real terror.
The same terror I felt.
The baby's heartbeat slowed.
Then jumped.
Then slowed again.
"Come on," I whispered.
My hand covered my stomach.
"Come on, baby girl."
Dad stood on the other side of the bed.
He looked helpless.
I had seen my father negotiate billion-dollar acquisitions without blinking.
I had watched him handle my mother's funeral while everyone else fell apart.
But he could not bargain with a fetal heart monitor.
He gripped my hand.
The doctor listened.
Seconds stretched.
Then the heartbeat climbed.
One hundred.
One ten.
One twenty.
The room exhaled.
"That's better," the doctor said.
I started crying.
Dad pressed my hand to his forehead.
"Thank God."
The doctor remained cautious.
"We're not out of danger. I want continuous monitoring."
I nodded.
"Whatever you need."
She looked toward the doorway.
Daniel was still there.
The doctor asked me, "Would you like your husband allowed back in?"
I stared at him.
Everything inside me twisted.
He had failed me.
But he was also our daughter's father.
And if something happened tonight, I wasn't sure I wanted his last memory to be a closed door.
"Let him sit in the corner."
Daniel closed his eyes for a second.
Relief.
"Thank you."
He entered quietly.
No touching.
No demands.
No pretending.
He sat near the wall.
For the next hour, he barely spoke.
Neither did I.
Dad took calls in the hallway.
Nina left to coordinate the investigation.
At some point, the nurses dimmed the lights.
The contractions eased.
The baby's heartbeat stayed steady.
Daniel stared at the monitor.
Finally, he whispered, "Do you have a name?"
I looked at him.
"We had a list."
"We did."
Past tense hurt.
He lowered his eyes.
"I always liked Claire."
"I know."
"Your mom's middle name."
I nodded.
Silence.
Then Daniel said, "I don't expect forgiveness."
I looked toward the dark window.
"Good."
He accepted that.
"I've been thinking about every time you asked me to speak up."
I laughed bitterly.
"That should keep you busy."
"It does."
He looked down at his hands.
"The Christmas dinner when Mom said your family probably couldn't afford private school."
I remembered.
"The charity luncheon when Chloe asked if my dress came from a supermarket."
His jaw tightened.
"The weekend at the lake when they put you in the staff cottage."
I turned toward him.
"You laughed."
His face twisted.
"I know."
"You said it was because the main house was full."
"I know."
"It wasn't."
"No."
I stared at him.
"Do you understand what hurts the most?"
He shook his head.
"I could survive Eleanor."
His eyes lifted.
"I could survive Chloe."
My voice cracked.
"I couldn't survive you agreeing with them through silence."
Daniel cried quietly.
No dramatic sobbing.
Just tears.
"I thought if I challenged Mom, everything would become a war."
"It was already a war."
"I know."
"I was fighting alone."
He nodded.
"I know."
The words were useless.
But they were true.
And that somehow made them hurt more.
At dawn, the doctor returned.
"The good news is that your contractions have slowed significantly. The baby's heart tracing has been reassuring for several hours."
I nearly collapsed with relief.
"Can I go home?"
"Not yet."
She smiled faintly.
"I want at least another day of observation."
Dad reentered during the conversation.
He looked exhausted.
"How is she?"
"Stable."
The doctor explained the plan.
When she left, Dad handed me a cup of ice chips.
Then he looked at Daniel.
"Your mother was arrested."
Daniel went still.
I stared at Dad.
"For what?"
"Not the financial investigation. Not yet."
Dad's expression was grim.
"Assault and witness intimidation."
Daniel frowned.
"Witness intimidation?"
"She returned to the hotel after leaving the hospital parking garage."
I sat upright.
"Why?"
"To approach one of Chloe's bridesmaids."
Daniel whispered, "Oh God."
Dad continued.
"She offered money if the woman would say you had handled the ring earlier that night."
My mouth fell open.
"She tried to buy a witness?"
"Security recorded part of the interaction. The bridesmaid called police."
Daniel covered his face.
I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
"Chloe?" I asked.
"Questioned. Released."
"And Grant?"
"At his parents' home. His attorney filed for an annulment early this morning."
Daniel stared at Dad.
"Already?"
"Apparently your sister's marriage lasted less time than the reception."
I shot Dad a look.
He lifted both hands.
"Too soon."
"Very."
Daniel actually let out a broken laugh.
Then stopped himself.
My father turned serious again.
"There is more."
I braced myself.
"Of course there is."
Dad looked at Daniel.
"The Rivergate issue may not be the biggest problem."
Daniel's face tightened.
"What is?"
Dad pulled a chair closer.
"Mercer Capital's review found irregular transfers from a trust established by your father."
Daniel frowned.
"My father's trust?"
"Yes."
"He didn't leave us one."
Dad looked at him carefully.
"According to state filings, he did."
Daniel stood.
"No."
"Sit down," I said.
He did.
Barely.
Dad continued.
"The trust was created six months before your father died."
Daniel looked stunned.
"For whom?"
"You and Chloe."
Daniel stared at him.
"How much?"
"Originally? Approximately twelve million in securities and property interests."
Daniel whispered, "That's impossible."
Dad shook his head.
"No."
"Mom told us Dad's estate was leveraged. She said there was almost nothing after taxes and debt."
"That may have been true for parts of the estate."
"But not the trust."
"No."
Daniel looked sick.
"What happened to it?"
Dad's jaw tightened.
"That's what we're determining."
A knock came at the door.
Marcus entered carrying a folder.
He gave it to Dad.
Dad read the first page.
Then looked at Daniel.
"You need your own lawyer immediately."
Daniel's voice went flat.
"Why?"
Dad handed him the folder.
I watched Daniel read.
His face changed line by line.
"What is it?" I asked.
Daniel couldn't speak.
Dad answered.
"Trust distributions were authorized over seven years."
"By whom?"
He looked at Daniel.
"Daniel."
I stared at my husband.
He shook his head violently.
"No."
Dad continued.
"At least, by documents bearing his signature."
Daniel stood so fast the chair tipped over.
"I never signed trust distributions."
Marcus picked up the chair.
Dad remained calm.
"Then someone did."
Daniel's hands shook.
"When?"
"First one was five months after your father's death."
"I was twenty-two."
"Yes."
"I wasn't even living here. I was in graduate school."
Dad nodded.
"Which is why Nina thinks the signature history may establish a pattern."
Daniel looked at me.
"This isn't just Rivergate."
"No."
He looked down at the papers.
"My mother stole from us."
No one corrected him.
His phone buzzed.
Chloe.
He stared at it.
Then handed it to Dad.
"Put it on speaker."
Dad raised an eyebrow.
Daniel answered.
"Chloe."
She was crying.
"Daniel, where are you?"
"Hospital."
"Is Vivienne there?"
He glanced at me.
"Yes."
"Don't tell her anything."
My stomach tightened.
Daniel's face hardened.
"What do you know?"
"About what?"
"Dad's trust."
Silence.
Long.
Terrible.
Daniel stood.
"Chloe."
Her breathing became uneven.
"I didn't know at first."
His face drained.
"At first?"
I closed my eyes.
Daniel whispered, "What did you know?"
Chloe started sobbing.
"Mom said it was our money anyway."
Daniel looked like someone had ripped open his chest.
"What did you do?"
"I signed some things."
He shook his head.
"No."
"Daniel—"
"WHAT DID YOU DO?"
The baby's monitor jumped.
A nurse looked in sharply.
I held up a hand.
Daniel lowered his voice instantly.
Chloe cried harder.
"Mom said your signature was easier because you were away."
Every person in the room went still.
Daniel's voice became almost inaudible.
"You forged my name?"
"I only did what she told me."
He looked at the papers.
"How many times?"
"I don't know."
"How much?"
"I don't know!"
"Chloe!"
"She said it was for the company! She said Dad would have wanted us to save the company!"
Daniel closed his eyes.
"And you believed her?"
Chloe went quiet.
Then she whispered.
"At first."
Daniel slowly sat down.
"What changed?"
Chloe sniffed.
"Mom started buying things."
"What things?"
"Houses. Jewelry. Investments."
Daniel looked toward Dad.
Dad's face hardened.
Chloe continued.
"And she gave me money."
"How much?"
"I don't know."
"How much?"
"Maybe two million."
Daniel stared into nothing.
His sister had helped steal his inheritance.
His mother had used his identity.
His family had been rotting from the inside while he forced me to smile at holiday dinners.
Chloe whispered, "Please don't tell Grant."
Daniel laughed.
A terrible sound.
"He filed for annulment."
Silence.
Then Chloe screamed.
"What?"
Daniel ended the call.
I watched him lower the phone.
For once, I felt no satisfaction.
Only tragedy.
He looked at me.
"My entire family is a lie."
I should have comforted him.
The old me would have.
The old me would have reached for his hand even while lying in a hospital bed because she had spent years believing love meant carrying someone else's pain.
Instead, I looked at him and said quietly:
"Now you know how it feels to discover the people you trusted were never who you thought they were."
May you like
He met my eyes.
And he understood exactly who I meant.
