Chapter 9: What Vivienne Said
She didn't answer right away.
I heard her move — the sound of a door closing, then quiet.
"He's never h*t me," she said.
"If that's what you're asking."
"It's part of what I'm asking."
"He's — difficult.
When things aren't going his way, he's difficult." A pause.
"He doesn't let me have much say in financial decisions.
He monitors my phone sometimes.
He gets angry in ways that are — loud." She stopped.
"I've been telling myself for two years that it's the money stress.
That once things stabilized he'd go back to how he was."
"And now?"
"Now I'm standing in my bathroom with the door locked, talking to my stepmother for the first time like a human being, and I'm wondering if there ever was a version of him that was different." Her voice was steady but thin.
"I don't know the answer to that."
"Is there somewhere you can go?
Someone you trust?"
"My friend Carol.
She's been asking me to come stay with her for months.
I kept saying no." A short breath.
"I think I've been afraid of what saying yes would mean."
"What does it mean?"
"That I'm admitting it's real."
I sat down on the bottom stair.
"It's real, Vivienne."
She didn't say anything for a moment.
"He's going to file the challenge," she said.
"He told me last night he'd already spoken to a lawyer.
Someone who works on contingency.
He thinks if he can drag it out long enough you'll settle just to make it stop."
"I won't."
"I told him that.
He didn't believe me." A pause.
"He doesn't think women like you fight."
"Women like me."
"Quiet women.
Women who don't make scenes." She said it without cruelty.
"He's wrong about you.
I think I was wrong about you too, for a long time."
"You were grieving," I said.
"For a very long time."
"That's generous."
"It's true."
Another silence.
Then: "Ellie.
The lawyer he's using — his name is Farrell.
He has a reputation for filing nuisance challenges and running up costs.
He's done it before.
You should tell your lawyer."
"I will." I paused.
"Will you be all right tonight?"
"I'm going to call Carol." A steadier breath.
"I'm going to pack a bag."
"Good."
"Ellie." Her voice was quieter now.
"Thank you.
For answering the phone.
For — all of it."
I thought of Thomas's note on the legal pad.
*I think it starts here.
I think it starts with this house.*
"He knew what he was doing," I said.
"He always did," she said.
"I just wasn't paying attention."
---
The challenge was filed four days later.
Dominic's lawyer — Farrell, as Vivienne had said — submitted a petition questioning Thomas's capacity at the time of signing, citing undue influence and requesting a full review of the estate documents.
The lawyer called me the morning it arrived.
"It's exactly what we expected," he said.
"Thin on substance, heavy on paperwork.
His goal is delay and pressure."
"What do we do?"
"We respond.
Fully and immediately.
We submit the physician assessments, the signing records, the timeline.
We make it expensive for him to continue." A pause.
"There's also something else.
Vivienne has been in contact with my office."
I sat up straighter.
"She's provided a written statement," he said.
"Detailing the accountant meeting, the letter Dominic drafted, and the contingency arrangement with Farrell.
She's also indicated she's willing to testify if it comes to that."
I closed my eyes for a moment.
"She didn't tell me she was going to do that."
"She said she didn't want you to talk her out of it."
I almost smiled.
"How does this change things?" I asked.
"It changes them considerably," the lawyer said.
"A spouse testifying against the petitioner's central claims is — it's not nothing.
Farrell will know that.
The question is whether Dominic knows yet."
He found out two days later.
Vivienne called me that evening.
She was at Carol's.
Her voice was calm.
"He called me," she said.
"He was — loud.
He said I'd betrayed him.
He said I'd destroyed everything." A pause.
"I let him finish.
Then I told him I wanted a divorce."
"How did he take that?"
"He hung up." A quiet beat.
"Then he called back and said I'd regret it.
Then he hung up again." She paused.
"Carol was sitting right next to me.
She heard everything.
She's already spoken to her brother — he's a solicitor.
He's going to help me."
"Good," I said.
"That's very good, Vivienne."
"I'm terrified," she said.
"I want you to know that.
I'm not doing this because it's easy."
"I know."
"I'm doing it because I sat on that back step yesterday morning — I went back, I hope that's all right — and I sat there for a long time, and I thought about what my father wrote.
May you like
About becoming better." Her voice was steady.
"I think this is what better looks like."
