Chapter 6 - VIVIENNE'S CHOICE
Vivienne came to Clara.
Alone.
No red dress.
No jewelry.
Jeans.
Hair tied back.
She looked younger.
Less armored.
Clara did not invite her into the apartment.
They met in a café.
Public.
Vivienne placed a flash drive on the table.
"My father's accounts."
Clara stared.
"Why?"
"Because Matteo ended the engagement."
Clara almost laughed.
"So revenge."
"Partly."
Honest.
Good start.
"But also because I finally read everything."
"What?"
"My father kept files."
Vivienne's eyes filled.
"He knew you called."
Clara stopped.
"When?"
"Seven weeks after the accident."
"I called every week."
"I know."
"What did he do?"
"Redirected your calls."
"Why?"
"He said contact would expose Matteo."
"Did it?"
"At first maybe."
"And later?"
"No."
There.
Charles maintained separation after immediate danger passed.
Why?
Money and control.
A living Clara complicated trust authority.
A reunited Matteo could terminate Laurent's position.
Vivienne admitted she discovered Clara's death notice status a year earlier.
She stayed silent because—
"I loved him."
Clara laughed bitterly.
"No."
Vivienne flinched.
"You loved having him."
Silence.
Clara continued.
"Love doesn't require another woman to remain buried alive."
Vivienne cried.
Fair.
Then she said:
"My father used me too."
Clara almost rolled her eyes.
But waited.
Charles had encouraged Vivienne's relationship with Matteo.
At first as companionship.
Then strategically.
If Matteo married Vivienne, Charles could argue long-term family integration into trust management.
Control stabilized.
Everyone became asset architecture.
Disgusting.
Vivienne said:
"I thought Dad wanted me happy."
"Maybe he did."
She stared.
"That doesn't make what he did less wrong."
Clara knew that lesson well.
Vivienne slid the drive closer.
"There's enough there to prosecute him."
"Why give it to me?"
"Because Matteo will hesitate."
"Why?"
"He's grateful."
Of course.
Charles had genuinely saved Matteo's life after the clinic.
Found doctors.
Protected him initially.
Then exploited the dependence.
Again:
Good act.
Bad acts.
Same person.
Humans refuse clean categories.
Clara took the drive.
"Thank you."
Vivienne nodded.
"Do you hate me?"
"Yes."
Vivienne almost smiled through tears.
"Fair."
Then Clara added:
"Maybe not forever."
That surprised both of them.
Vivienne left.
The evidence went to authorities.
Charles Laurent was arrested in France three weeks later on fraud, forgery, fiduciary abuse, and related financial charges.
Bellini's old corruption case reopened too.
Matteo became a key witness.
Clara became a victim in the financial fraud case.
The €2 million spousal allocation was frozen pending restoration.
She hated the number.
Money had become attached to too much pain.
Naomi said:
"You are allowed to take money legally owed to you without turning grief into greed."
May you like
Important.
Clara accepted that.
