Chapter 6: My Husband's Secret
“Daniel, tell them.””
Eleanor's fingers were wrapped around his wrist.
He looked at her.
Then at the tablet.
Then at me.
“Vivienne, I can explain.””
I didn't move.
“Then explain.””
He swallowed.
“I didn't put the ring in your handbag.””
“That's not what I asked.””
His eyes shifted toward the police officer.
“I was asked to disable the camera.””
“By whom?””
Daniel looked at his mother.
Eleanor released his wrist.
“Don't you dare.””
The officer stepped forward.
“Mr. Sterling, I'm going to ask you to come with me and provide a statement.””
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Can I speak to my wife first?””
I almost laughed.
“You had the entire evening to speak to me.””
“Vivienne, please.””
I looked at the torn fabric hanging from my shoulder.
“Tell me why you disabled the camera.””
He glanced around.
“Not here.””
“Here.””
His voice dropped.
“My mother said she needed time to retrieve something from Chloe's dressing room.””
Eleanor immediately interrupted.
“That is not what I said.””
Daniel turned toward her.
“Mom, stop.””
“You're confused.””
“No. I'm remembering.””
He looked at me again.
“She told me the ring had to be removed temporarily. She said Chloe was upset because Arthur hadn't approved the transfer.””
I stared at him.
“And you believed that?””
“I didn't think it would become this.””
“What did you think would happen?””
He hesitated.
“She said she would put it somewhere safe and then announce that it had gone missing. She wanted to force Arthur to discuss the trust.””
I felt cold.
“So you helped your mother create a fake theft.””
“I thought it was a family negotiation.””
“A negotiation?””
My voice rose.
“You let two hundred people accuse your pregnant wife of stealing while you knew the ring had been deliberately moved?””
Daniel lowered his head.
“I didn't know she would put it in your handbag.””
I stared at him.
“Did you know someone would?””
He said nothing.
I stepped closer.
“Daniel, look at me.””
He finally raised his eyes.
“You knew there was a possibility I would be blamed.””
His lips trembled.
“I thought she'd find another way.””
I took a slow breath.
There it was.
Not an accident.
Not a misunderstanding.
A calculation.
He had gambled with my reputation because he thought his mother's plan would somehow work without consequences.
“And when Chloe grabbed me?”” I asked.
He closed his eyes.
“I didn't expect that.””
“When your mother stepped on my dress?””
“Vivienne—”
“When I asked you to tell them to stop?””
He looked down.
“I was trying to keep everything from escalating.””
I nodded slowly.
“You weren't keeping anything from escalating. You were protecting yourself.””
Daniel reached for my hand.
I stepped away.
“Don't.””
His face crumpled.
“I'm sorry.””
For three years, I had wanted those words.
But hearing them now felt like someone offering an umbrella after deliberately pushing me into a storm.
The officer approached again.
“Mr. Sterling, we need your statement.””
Daniel nodded.
Before he left, he turned toward me.
“Can we please talk after this? Just the two of us?””
I looked at him.
“I don't know if there is an us after this.””
He walked away.
Eleanor watched him go.
Then she turned toward me.
“You've destroyed my family.””
I stared at her.
“No, Eleanor. I just stopped protecting the people who were destroying it.””
She stepped closer.
“You think you're powerful now because Arthur signed some papers?””
“No.””
“You think you can walk into Sterling Holdings and take control?””
“I don't want control of your life.””
“Then what do you want?””
I looked down at my stomach.
“I want my daughter to grow up knowing that nobody gets to humiliate her and call it family.””
For the first time, Eleanor had no immediate response.
Margaret approached with a glass of water.
“Vivienne, we should get you checked by a doctor. You've been under considerable stress.””
“I'll be fine.””
“I'm serious.””
Arthur nodded.
“Margaret is right. I'll have the car brought around.””
I started to stand.
A sharp pressure tightened across my lower abdomen.
I froze.
Margaret noticed immediately.
“Vivienne?””
“It's probably nothing.””
Another tightening followed.
Stronger.
I gripped the table.
Arthur called out.
“Get a doctor!””
Daniel, who had been speaking to the police near the entrance, turned instantly.
“Vivienne?””
He hurried toward me.
I held up one hand.
“Don't.””
But my knees weakened.
He caught my arm before I fell.
“Call an ambulance!””
The ballroom erupted into movement.
Guests stepped aside. Someone brought a chair. Margaret knelt beside me.
“Breathe slowly,” she said.
“Tell me where the pain is.””
“My lower abdomen.””
“Are you bleeding?””
“I don't think so.””
Daniel crouched in front of me.
“Look at me. You're going to be okay.””
I stared at him.
“Don't make promises you can't keep.””
His eyes filled with tears.
Arthur stood over us, his expression suddenly older.
“I'm sorry, Vivienne.””
I looked at him.
“None of this is your fault.””
“Perhaps not. But I should have protected you before tonight.””
An ambulance arrived within minutes.
As the paramedics helped me onto the stretcher, Margaret picked up my handbag.
“I'll bring this.””
Then Patricia approached her.
“Mrs. Collins?””
Margaret turned.
Patricia looked frightened again.
“I need to tell Vivienne something.””
Margaret leaned closer.
“What?””
Patricia glanced toward Eleanor.
“There's another message.””
“What message?””
“The one Mrs. Sterling sent before the wedding.””
Margaret looked at her phone.
Patricia showed her a screenshot.
The message had been sent at 6:18 p.m.
*Make sure the ring is found in Vivienne's bag. Once Arthur sees her as a thief, he'll never trust her with the company.*
A second message followed.
*Daniel must stay out of it. If he asks questions, remind him what happens if the original succession letter becomes public.*
Margaret's face changed.
“What does that mean?””
Patricia shook her head.
“I don't know. But there was an attachment.””
She opened it.
It was a scanned photograph of a hospital document.
My name was clearly visible.
So was Daniel's.
And beneath our names was a medical record dated four months earlier.
I stared at the screen.
“What is that?””
Margaret looked at me.
“Vivienne, do you recognize this?””
My heart began pounding.
I had never seen the document before.
It contained information about my pregnancy.
A prenatal genetic screening report.
But the results were not what made Margaret look frightened.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
*The child must never be allowed to take control. The biological relationship must be challenged before the birth.*
I felt the room spin.
“What does that mean?””
Margaret didn't answer immediately.
She turned the phone toward Arthur.
He read the note.
His face became stone.
Then he looked at Daniel, who was standing beside the ambulance.
“Daniel!””
My husband turned.
Arthur held up the photograph.
“Did you know your mother was planning to challenge the baby's parentage?””
Daniel's face went completely white.
He looked at the document.
Then at Eleanor.
And his answer was barely audible.
“Grandfather... there's something I haven't told Vivienne.””
My blood ran cold.
“What?””
Daniel took a step toward me.
“Vivienne, before we got married, my mother made me sign something.””
I gripped the edge of the stretcher.
“What did you sign?””
He looked at me with tears in his eyes.
“A document stating that if our child ever became the Sterling successor, I would have the right to challenge her inheritance.””
The paramedic looked at the other one.
Arthur's walking stick slipped from his hand and struck the floor.
Margaret whispered something I couldn't hear.
And Daniel finally said the words that shattered whatever remained of my trust.
“But there's another clause, Vivienne. One that I never understood until tonight.””
May you like
He looked at my stomach.
“If the child's legitimacy is successfully challenged, the controlling shares return to my mother.””
