Chapter 10 - Vivian’s Fear
Ethan wanted to confront Vivian immediately.
Elena stopped him.
“The recording proves she is involved, but it also proves she’s afraid of someone.”
“She planned to have you declared unstable.”
“I know.”
“She arranged the transport.”
“We don’t know that.”
“She signed the request.”
“Then why would she ask the woman not to hurt me?”
Ethan paced near the hospital window.
“Because my mother wants control without consequences. That doesn’t make her innocent.”
“No. But it means she may talk if she believes the other person has betrayed her.”
Nora agreed.
“We need Vivian separated from Malcolm and Bell.”
“How?” Ethan asked.
Elena looked at the false medical directive.
“Let her believe her plan is working.”
Ethan immediately rejected the idea.
“No.”
“We tell her the doctors are worried about my mental condition.”
“No.”
“We make her think I’m willing to sign the care agreement.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Elena, she won’t meet us otherwise.”
“She attacked your rights before she attacked you physically.”
“And now we know she needs my signature for something.”
Nora considered it.
“We can arrange a controlled meeting. Vivian enters alone. Security remains outside. Everything is recorded.”
Ethan looked at Elena.
“You are seven months pregnant.”
“Thirty-three weeks.”
“That correction doesn’t make this safer.”
“The alternative is waiting for them to try again.”
Ethan knew she was right.
He still hated it.
Nora sent Vivian a message from Elena’s phone.
I’m frightened. Ethan has lost everything because of me. I want to discuss the medical agreement privately.
Vivian replied within one minute.
I knew you would eventually understand.
She arrived at Westbridge two hours later.
Vivian entered Elena’s room carrying a leather handbag and a bouquet of white roses.
Ethan was hidden in the adjoining observation room with Nora.
Elena sat upright in bed.
“You came alone?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“No Malcolm?”
“He does not need to be involved in family matters.”
Elena almost smiled at the lie.
Vivian placed the flowers on the table.
“How are you feeling?”
“Afraid.”
“That is understandable.”
“I don’t want Ethan to lose the company.”
“Then help me protect what remains.”
Vivian removed a document from her bag.
It was another Maternal Care Directive.
“If you sign this, I can stop the board from filing a public competency petition.”
“Would you?”
“Yes.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because whatever you believe, I do not want you harmed.”
Elena remembered the recording.
“You told someone not to hurt me.”
Vivian’s face became still.
“What are you talking about?”
“The woman in your study.”
Vivian stood.
“This meeting is over.”
Elena reached for the document.
“Sit down.”
Vivian hesitated.
“If you leave,” Elena said, “Ethan will give the recording to the police.”
Vivian slowly returned to the chair.
“Who is the woman?” Elena asked.
“You do not understand what you heard.”
“Then explain it.”
Vivian looked toward the door.
“You think Malcolm controls this.”
“He doesn’t?”
“Malcolm controls paperwork. Marcus controls medical records. Neither of them created the system.”
“What system?”
“The arrangement that protected Ethan.”
“Protected him from whom?”
Vivian’s composure began to crack.
“His mother.”
“Patient 32?”
Vivian looked shocked.
“You found the records.”
“Arthur left them.”
A long silence followed.
Vivian’s voice became quieter.
“Ethan’s biological mother was named Mara Ellison. She was seventeen when he was born.”
“Did she abandon him?”
“No.”
“Did you steal him?”
Vivian looked away.
“I was told she had died during delivery.”
“But she survived.”
“Yes.”
“And she tried to find him.”
“For years.”
“Why did you stop her?”
“Because by then Ethan was my son.”
“Being his mother didn’t give you the right to erase hers.”
“You have no idea what it is like to love a child and know someone can take him away.”
Elena placed a hand over her belly.
“I know exactly what that feels like.”
Vivian flinched.
Elena continued.
“Is Mara the woman on the recording?”
“No.”
“Then who is?”
Vivian’s lips parted, but no answer came.
The monitoring device beside Elena’s bed suddenly released a brief warning tone.
Vivian’s eyes moved toward it.
Fear crossed her face.
“She knows I came here.”
“Who?”
Vivian grabbed her handbag.
“We must leave.”
“Why?”
“The monitor is connected to the hospital network.”
“This room is secure.”
“No room is secure.”
Vivian rushed toward the door.
Before she reached it, the lights went out.
Emergency lighting turned the room red.
The door locked automatically.
May you like
From the speaker above Elena’s bed came the voice of the unknown woman.
“Vivian, you were instructed not to speak.”
