Chapter 8 - VIVIENNE’S FIRST INTERVIEW
Vivienne denied intending harm.
She claimed she put a wellness supplement into Arthur’s drink.
Detective Ortiz placed the lab report on the table.
Vivienne stopped speaking.
Then she blamed Miles.
“He gave it to me.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That it would relax Arthur.”
“For what?”
“He was stressed.”
Ortiz stared at her.
“You secretly placed an unknown substance into a man’s drink because his CFO told you it would relax him?”
Vivienne looked down.
The explanation was insulting.
Then Ortiz showed her recovered messages.
The gala is the last clean window.
No scene.
No hospital.
Vivienne’s attorney asked for a break.
Afterward, the story changed.
Vivienne knew Arthur would become ill.
But she claimed Miles said the effects would pass.
Then another message.
VIVIENNE:
HOW LONG UNTIL THEY THINK IT WAS HIS HEART?
Her attorney stopped the interview.
Arthur watched none of this live.
Ortiz later summarized only what mattered.
Vivienne knew.
Maybe not every scientific detail.
But enough to understand the intended outcome was death disguised as natural collapse.
Then investigators searched her penthouse.
They found.
Printed estate drafts.
Arthur’s medical history.
A copy of his father’s cardiac records.
Life insurance summaries.
Vale Quantum succession charts.
Wedding seating plans.
And one handwritten note.
AFTER ARTHUR.
MOVE WEDDING FOUNDATION ASSETS.
ANNOUNCE GRIEF.
NO PRESS FOR 30 DAYS.
Arthur stared at the phrase.
Announce grief.
She had planned his mourning period before she planned the funeral.
Then Marcus brought something else.
A small velvet box.
Inside.
Arthur’s wedding ring.
Already engraved.
VIVIENNE + ARTHUR.
FOREVER BEGINS JUNE 14.
May you like
Arthur closed the lid.
Somewhere between choosing rings and choosing flowers, Vivienne had decided forever could be financially useful if it lasted less than two weeks.
