Chapter 10 - Vivian’s Version of the Truth
Emergency lamps illuminated Vivian at the tunnel entrance.
She was alone.
Her evening gown had been replaced by a dark coat, and rain glistened in her hair.
Alexander moved in front of Lucy.
“Where is Natalie?”
“With her father.”
“Where is Mara?”
“I don’t know.”
Lucy held up the photograph from the printer.
“Someone operating from this room knows.”
Vivian looked at the wall of monitors.
“I have never seen this equipment.”
“You knew about the passage,” Alexander said.
“I knew your father used it.”
“My father is dead.”
Vivian’s expression shifted.
“Yes.”
It was a careful answer.
Alexander noticed.
“Did you see his body?”
“I identified him.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Vivian removed her wet coat and placed it over a chair.
“The boat exploded. There was very little to identify.”
“But you signed the death certificate.”
“As his wife.”
Lucy stepped around Alexander.
“You also signed my transfer order.”
Vivian closed her eyes briefly.
“Yes.”
The admission changed the room.
Alexander looked as if he had expected another denial and did not know what to do with the truth.
“You had her locked under a false name.”
“Yes.”
“You told me our child was dead.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vivian looked toward the map bearing Thomas Hale’s name.
“Because your father believed the Hale trust was a machine designed to manufacture obedient heirs. He spent his life trying to destroy it.”
“What does that have to do with Lucy?”
“The trust does not simply transfer company control when a child is born. It opens sealed financial accounts, releases private archives and removes the temporary trustees.”
“You.”
“And three others.”
“Conrad Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Eleanor Bishop?”
Vivian looked surprised.
“Where did you hear that name?”
Alexander pointed toward the red ledger.
Vivian’s face tightened.
“Eleanor was a nurse assigned to me when you were born.”
“Was I a twin?”
The question seemed to age Vivian instantly.
She sat down.
“There were two children.”
Lucy felt Alexander’s hand find the table for support.
“Where is the other one?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it a boy or a girl?”
“A boy.”
“What happened to him?”
“Your father took him.”
Alexander stared at her.
“You allowed the world to believe you gave birth to one child.”
“Thomas said one child needed to remain outside the trust. He feared what his father would do if both heirs were recorded.”
“What was his name?”
“He was never officially named.”
“You must have called him something.”
Vivian looked away.
“Daniel.”
The monitors flickered.
One feed displayed a dock at Pier 17.
Mara sat beneath a hanging light.
A timer appeared in the corner.
One hour and forty minutes.
Lucy turned back to Vivian.
“Why did you erase my child if you knew what it felt like to lose one?”
“Because Daniel did not disappear. He became a weapon your father could use against the trustees.”
“Thomas used his own son?”
“Thomas believed control justified anything.”
Alexander’s expression hardened.
“So did you.”
Vivian accepted the accusation.
“After Thomas vanished, I received messages. They claimed Daniel was alive. They said if another Hale heir activated the trust, everything Thomas hid would be released.”
“Who sent the messages?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expected me to believe Lucy lost the baby, marry Natalie and approve the Vale merger.”
“The merger would have dissolved the old trust structure.”
“And protected your control.”
“It would have protected all of us.”
Lucy placed the photograph of Mara in front of her.
“Did you order this?”
“No.”
“Did Natalie?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“But she helped you.”
Vivian nodded.
“Natalie knew I needed Lucy removed from Alexander’s life. She arranged the false lender crisis that sent him to Zurich.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“Her father was involved.”
“Conrad financed Dr. Rowe. He believed that once you married Natalie, the Hale and Vale companies would merge.”
“Did Natalie know the baby was alive?”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Vivian looked toward Lucy.
“After you escaped, Dr. Rowe told Natalie the pregnancy had become unstable. Later, I let her believe you and the child had died.”
Lucy’s face went cold.
“You let her wear my necklace.”
“It was found in the hospital room.”
“You took it.”
“Yes.”
Alexander turned away, struggling to contain his anger.
Vivian continued.
“I buried the folder because Eleanor Bishop called me while I was in the courtyard. She said the documents had been altered. She warned me that Dr. Rowe was no longer working only for Conrad.”
“Why not destroy the folder?”
“I needed evidence against him.”
“But Natalie removed pages.”
“She wanted protection in case Conrad abandoned her.”
Lucy looked at the monitor showing Mara.
“The person behind this wants the red ledger. What does it prove?”
“That Northstar Custodial is controlled by someone with access to Thomas’s old accounts.”
“Daniel?” Alexander asked.
“I don’t know.”
A message appeared on the central screen.
VIVIAN HALE HAS GIVEN YOU A BEAUTIFUL VERSION OF THE TRUTH.
NOW ASK HER WHO ORDERED THE BOAT TO EXPLODE.
Alexander faced his mother.
Vivian stared at the message.
For the first time, she looked genuinely terrified.
“Thomas was not on that boat,” she whispered.
Alexander’s voice became dangerously calm.
May you like
“How do you know?”
“Because I was the person who told him when to leave it.”
