Chapter 15 - The Longest Night
Dad drove too fast.
Mom held my hand in the back seat.
Rebecca called the hospital.
By the time we reached Whitaker Women's Medical Center, my contractions were three minutes apart.
Fear drowned everything else.
The wedding.
The investigation.
The divorce.
None of it mattered when the monitor was placed around my stomach.
My baby mattered.
Only my baby.
The doctor examined me.
“We're going to try to slow things down.”
I nodded.
Then another contraction hit.
Hours passed.
My parents stayed beside me.
Near midnight, a nurse entered.
“Vivienne.”
“Dominic is downstairs.”
My heart tightened.
“How does he know?”
“Your father called him.”
I looked at Dad.
He didn't apologize.
“He is the baby's father.”
Biology had become the easiest part of our relationship.
I stared at the ceiling.
“Let him wait.”
Dominic waited nine hours.
He never demanded entry.
Never called my phone.
Never sent messages.
At dawn, the contractions slowed.
The doctor smiled.
“Your baby wants a little more time.”
I finally breathed again.
Mom kissed my forehead.
Dad left to get coffee.
I asked the nurse to bring Dominic upstairs.
He entered quietly.
He looked exhausted.
“How are you?”
“Stable.”
“The baby?”
“Still inside.”
A broken smile crossed his face.
“Good.”
Silence stretched between us.
Then he pulled a folder from his bag.
“I signed everything Rebecca sent.”
“I know.”
“And I told investigators everything about my mother.”
“I know.”
He looked toward the monitor.
“I don't expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
He nodded.
“I only want to be a decent father.”
I studied him.
“That will depend on what you do.”
“Not what you say.”
“I understand.”
Before he left, he placed something on the table.
My wedding ring.
“I didn't know what to do with it.”
I looked at the diamond.
“Keep it.”
His eyes lifted.
“Why?”
“Because you need to remember what silence cost you.”
He closed his fingers around it.
Then walked away.
Outside the window, morning light spread across Manhattan.
For the first time, I did not feel abandoned.
I felt free.
But freedom did not mean the danger was over.
Because while I was still in the hospital, federal investigators searched Robert Mercer's office.
Inside his private safe, they found a second forged document.
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And this one had already been filed with the court.
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