Chapter 5 — The Woman Who Knew Too Much
The next morning, Vivienne woke up before sunrise.
She barely slept.
But she was no longer broken.
She was focused.
The first thing she did was call the only person she trusted.
Her childhood friend, Natalie Brooks.
Natalie arrived thirty minutes later.
The moment she saw Vivienne’s face, she knew something serious had happened.
“What happened last night?”
Vivienne handed her the flash drive.
“Watch.”
Natalie watched every file.
Every recording.
Every document.
By the end, her expression had changed from confusion to anger.
“They planned this from the beginning.”
Vivienne nodded.
“Yes.”
“But why wait eight years?”
That question stayed in the room.
Why now?
Why the wedding?
Why the pregnancy?
Natalie opened the financial records again.
Then she noticed something.
“Vivienne…”
She pointed at the screen.
“There is a pattern.”
“What?”
“These transfers happened every year.”
Vivienne leaned closer.
Money had been moving from hidden accounts into different companies connected to the Carter family.
But one transaction was different.
It happened two months ago.
A large payment.
The description was:
PROJECT V — FINAL TRANSFER
Natalie looked at her.
“Project V?”
Vivienne felt a strange fear.
Because the letter was not random.
V.
Her name.
Vivienne.
Before they could continue, her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman’s frightened voice whispered:
“Vivienne…”
She froze.
“Who is this?”
The woman hesitated.
Then said:
“I was Chloe’s bridesmaid.”
Vivienne stood up.
“Why are you calling me?”
The woman started crying.
“Because I helped them.”
Silence.
“But I didn’t know how far they would go.”
Vivienne gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
A pause.
Then:
“Because they know I talked to you.”
Suddenly, the call ended.
Natalie looked worried.
“That was the bridesmaid?”
Vivienne nodded.
“She knows something.”
Before they could call back, a message appeared.
One sentence.
From the same number.
CHECK YOUR FATHER’S OLD HOUSE.
Vivienne stared at the screen.
Her father’s old house had been abandoned since his death.
Nobody had entered it for years.
May you like
But if the answer was there…
She needed to go.
