Chapter 16 - What Vivian Really Wanted
Knowing I had money made Vivian’s plan more sinister.
She had not expected me to disappear because I was poor.
She expected me to panic because I was postpartum, exhausted, and terrified of losing my children.
Marcus found the next piece inside Edwin Pike’s discovery production.
A draft settlement agreement.
It had been created three weeks before the twins were born.
My name appeared at the top.
The proposed terms were extraordinary.
I would surrender any claim against Graham.
I would pay Graham $8 million as a confidential marital settlement.
I would allow primary custody to remain with him.
I would accept limited visitation until completing a psychological evaluation.
I stared at Marcus.
“They expected me to pay him?”
“Yes.”
“Eight million dollars.”
“Yes.”
“Why would I ever agree?”
Marcus turned the page.
“Because they planned to accuse you of hiding assets during the marriage.”
I laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“My assets were disclosed in the prenup.”
“Not all of them were valued publicly.”
“But Graham signed independent counsel acknowledgments.”
“I know.”
“So the threat was weak.”
“Legally.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Emotionally, ten days after delivering twins, with emergency custody hanging over your head?”
I understood.
Vivian did not need the threat to win in court.
She only needed me to believe it might.
The mansion confrontation had been designed to break me before I could think.
The snow.
The babies crying.
The insults.
The accusation.
The threat of custody.
Then settlement papers the next morning.
It was pressure.
A psychological ambush.
But there was one problem Vivian had not predicted.
The camera.
And one person she had underestimated even more completely.
Me.
At the next deposition, Marcus placed the draft settlement in front of Vivian.
She studied it.
“I’ve never seen this.”
Marcus slid the metadata beside it.
The file had been created on her laptop.
Her attorney whispered to her.
Vivian’s expression tightened.
“People used my computer.”
“Who?”
“Staff.”
“Name one.”
She could not.
Marcus continued.
“Did you know Elena controlled Northstar?”
“No.”
He placed the eight-month-old email in front of her.
Her face changed.
“Would you like to reconsider?”
Vivian looked at the document.
Then she made the mistake Marcus had been waiting for.
“That report was illegally obtained.”
Marcus became very still.
“I did not ask whether the report was legal.”
Vivian realized it too late.
“I asked whether you had seen it.”
Her attorney closed his eyes.
Marcus leaned forward.
“And you just told us you knew exactly what report I meant.”
For the first time, Vivian Harrington had not merely been contradicted.
May you like
She had contradicted herself under oath.
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