Chapter 4 - The Woman Behind the Fortune
That evening, Vivienne returned to the Greenwich house.
She expected to feel relief.
Instead, she felt exhausted.
The house had once been a home.
Now it felt like a museum dedicated to a marriage that had already died.
She walked upstairs.
On the dresser was an old photograph.
She and Preston on their honeymoon.
He was laughing.
She was laughing too.
She picked it up.
"Where did we go wrong?"
A voice answered from the doorway.
"Long before the affair."
Vivienne turned.
Her mother stood there.
Eleanor Sinclair.
Elegant.
Seventy years old.
Sharp enough to terrify a room full of billionaires.
"You shouldn't be here."
"I own half the property."
Vivienne smiled.
"You own the property next door."
"Exactly."
Eleanor entered.
"You finally told him?"
"Not everything."
"What are you waiting for?"
Vivienne looked at the photograph.
"I want to know whether he loved me at all."
Her mother sighed.
"You already know."
Vivienne's eyes filled with tears.
"Knowing isn't the same as accepting."
Eleanor sat beside her.
"You gave him every chance."
"I know."
"You protected him from bankruptcy."
"I know."
"You covered his father's debts."
"I know."
"You even bought the company he nearly destroyed."
Vivienne whispered,
"I thought love meant helping someone become better."
"It does."
"What if they choose to become worse?"
Eleanor didn't answer.
Vivienne looked toward the window.
Rain had begun falling again.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
"Hello?"
A man's voice said,
"Your husband isn't the only person who knows your secret."
Vivienne froze.
"Who is this?"
"You should ask Preston what happened three years ago."
The line went dead.
Vivienne stared at the phone.
Three years ago.
Her mother's expression changed.
"What happened?"
Vivienne slowly looked at her.
"Someone knows."
"Knows what?"
"About the trust."
Eleanor's face went pale.
"That's impossible."
"Apparently not."
At that moment, another message arrived.
A photograph.
Preston standing beside a man Vivienne recognized.
Her father's former attorney.
Underneath the photograph were four words:
HE DIDN'T MEET TIFFANY BY ACCIDENT.
Vivienne's blood ran cold.
She zoomed in.
The man beside Preston was Marcus Vale.
A former Sinclair adviser who had disappeared after her father's death.
Vivienne stood.
"Mom."
"What?"
"I think Preston's affair was never about Tiffany."
"What do you mean?"
Vivienne stared at the photograph.
"I think someone wanted Preston close to me."
Her mother stood.
"Why?"
May you like
Vivienne's eyes hardened.
"To find out what I own."
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