Chapter 4 - VIVIAN'S FIRST MISTAKE
Vivian visited Noah two days later.
She brought flowers.
I didn't let her into the room.
“You can't keep me from my grandson.”
“I can.”
Her expression hardened.
“I'm his grandmother.”
“And I'm his mother.”
She lowered her voice.
“Daniel is furious.”
“I imagine he is.”
“He believes you've turned this into revenge.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“This is protection.”
Vivian laughed.
“You think you can fight the Vance family?”
“I'm not fighting a family.”
I looked at her.
“I'm fighting a group of people who committed fraud.”
Her smile disappeared.
She knew.
That was enough.
Then she made her mistake.
“You don't have the money to fight us.”
I smiled.
“That's interesting.”
“What?”
“You seem very confident about my finances.”
She froze.
I continued.
“Did Daniel tell you about the trust?”
Her face changed.
There it was.
Fear.
Years earlier, my grandfather had established a private trust in my name.
Daniel knew about it.
But he didn't control it.
Vivian apparently knew about it too.
Michael later confirmed the truth.
Daniel had been trying to access the trust.
The Caribbean trip wasn't only about Celeste.
It had been a meeting with investors.
They needed money.
My money.
And they believed divorcing me would unlock it.
But there was another clause.
If Daniel was found to have committed financial misconduct against me, the trust would become protected from marital claims.
He had spent months trying to separate me from the very asset he couldn't touch.
I smiled.
The trap had already closed.
Then Michael called.
“Grace.”
“What happened?”
“We found the account.”
“Which one?”
“The one Daniel used to pay Celeste.”
My heart stopped.
“How much?”
“Four hundred thousand.”
“For what?”
“Not gifts.”
He paused.
“Payments.”
“To Celeste?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Michael sent me the transaction descriptions.
Consulting.
Property management.
Legal services.
Travel.
Then one final payment.
CONFIDENTIALITY — $150,000.
I stared.
“What is she being paid to keep quiet about?”
“We don't know.”
“Find out.”
That night, Daniel called.
“You've gone too far.”
I answered calmly.
“No.”
“You're destroying my business.”
“You destroyed it yourself.”
“Give me access to the trust.”
I laughed.
“You really said that out loud?”
Silence.
Then:
“You don't understand what you're doing.”
“I understand perfectly.”
He lowered his voice.
“Grace, if you keep digging, people are going to get hurt.”
I looked at Noah sleeping beside me.
May you like
“You should have thought about that before you left him.”
I hung up.
