The House Vivian Had Tried to Forget
Chapter 10 - The House Vivian Had Tried to Forget
They found Vivian the next morning.
She was sitting alone inside a small cottage overlooking a frozen lake.
Raymond hadn't kidnapped her.
Not exactly.
He had threatened her.
Vivian had staged part of her own disappearance to draw attention away from Claire and Ethan while she tried to find the ledger first.
For once, she had tried to protect them.
She just hadn't known how to do it honestly.
Ethan entered the cottage first.
Vivian stood.
Mother and son stared at each other.
Then Ethan hugged her.
Vivian broke.
Claire had never seen her cry.
Not at Arthur's funeral.
Not during the collapse of her marriage years earlier.
Not even when Ethan publicly abandoned the company.
Now she clung to her son like someone who had finally run out of strength.
Claire stayed outside.
Several minutes later, Vivian came to the porch.
Her eyes were red.
"I suppose you've come to enjoy this."
Claire looked at her.
"No."
"You should."
"I don't."
That seemed to hurt Vivian more.
She sat beside Claire.
For a long time, neither woman spoke.
Finally Vivian whispered, "I hated you."
"I know."
"Not because you were poor."
Claire raised an eyebrow.
Vivian almost smiled.
"All right. At first, a little."
Then her expression changed.
"I hated you because Ethan loved you without needing you."
Claire didn't understand.
Vivian explained.
Her entire life, she had believed love was something earned through sacrifice.
She saved Robert.
She protected Ethan.
She defended Arthur's company.
She made herself indispensable.
Then Claire arrived.
Claire simply loved Ethan.
And Ethan loved her back.
No debt.
No fear.
No obligation.
"I thought if he didn't need me," Vivian whispered, "he would leave me."
Claire looked through the window at Ethan.
"So you tried to make sure he couldn't."
Vivian nodded.
For the first time, she admitted the truth without defending it.
Claire wanted to forgive her.
But she wasn't ready.
Before they left, police received new information.
Raymond Cole had been arrested at O'Hare Airport.
The danger was over.
But the financial disaster wasn't.
Cross Development still owed more than seventy million dollars.
May you like
And the banks wanted payment.
Within forty-eight hours.
