Chapter 5 - VIVIENNE’S VERSION
Vivienne requested a meeting through lawyers.
Lucian agreed.
Neutral office.
Attorneys present.
Elena did not attend.
Correct.
She was his nurse.
Not counsel.
Not interrogator.
Not romantic partner.
Not yet.
Vivienne entered wearing cream.
Always immaculate.
She looked at Lucian for a long time.
Then:
“You look better.”
He answered:
“I am.”
That disturbed her.
Then the lawyers began.
Northline.
Dr. Wolfe.
The transition clause.
The medication.
The forged signature.
Vivienne denied trying to kill him.
Completely.
Then she admitted something else.
She and Julian had discussed the transition clause years earlier.
Why?
Because Lucian had grown increasingly hostile toward some family business arrangements.
Legal and illegal.
He wanted to close certain operations.
Reduce exposure.
End old alliances.
Julian believed he was destabilizing the network.
Vivienne believed marriage would calm him.
It didn’t.
Then the crash happened.
She said she did not plan it.
Did she know Northline had serviced the SUV?
Yes.
Did she know her brother controlled Northline?
Yes.
Did she know there had been a steering complaint?
Her answer:
“No.”
Investigators would test that.
Then medication.
She admitted asking Wolfe for something to “take the edge off” before public meetings.
Without Lucian’s informed consent?
“Yes.”
That was serious.
She rationalized it:
“He was angry all the time.”
“He wasn’t sleeping.”
“He was impossible.”
Lucian stared at her.
“So you medicated me.”
“I helped you.”
“No.”
Silence.
Then:
“The brace?”
Vivienne looked away.
“I tightened it.”
“Why?”
“Because Wolfe said support mattered.”
“How tight?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Wolfe tell you to tighten it until I couldn’t complete therapy?”
“No.”
Good.
No inventing admissions.
Then the forged document.
Vivienne’s face changed.
“That wasn’t supposed to be used yet.”
There.
The room froze.
Lucian asked:
“What does that mean?”
She realized too late.
Her attorney intervened.
But the sentence remained.
The management authority had been prepared in advance.
By whom?
Julian’s law firm contact.
The signature block?
A digital reproduction taken from earlier corporate documents.
Vivienne claimed she believed it would be presented only after Lucian agreed.
Yet she carried a copy already bearing his signature.
Hard to explain.
Then Lucian asked the hardest question.
“Did you know about the crash before it happened?”
Vivienne’s eyes filled.
“No.”
“Did Julian?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Wolfe?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did your father?”
Silence.
Mateo Sinclair had died eighteen months earlier.
No answer available from him.
Vivienne whispered:
“I wanted control.”
Lucian said nothing.
“I wanted you alive.”
That distinction mattered.
Not enough to save her relationship.
Enough to complicate guilt.
Then:
“I thought if you were weaker, you would finally let other people make decisions.”
Lucian looked almost calm.
“That is the most honest thing you’ve said.”
Vivienne cried.
The meeting ended.
Outside, Lucian sat alone for ten minutes.
Then called Elena.
Not Marco.
Not Sylvester.
Elena.
She answered.
“Everything okay?”
“No.”
Honest.
“Do you need medical help?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He looked out the window.
“Can you sit with me when I get home?”
That was all.
She said yes.
Not because he was powerful.
Because he asked.
That night, she sat beside him in the library.
No touching.
No speeches.
He finally said:
“I loved her.”
“I know.”
“I still don’t know which parts were real.”
Elena looked at him.
“Probably some.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“No.”
Then:
“She didn’t have to hate you to hurt you.”
That landed.
May you like
Lucian closed his eyes.
And for the first time since the crash, he allowed himself to grieve someone who was still alive.
