Chapter 7: Vivian Makes Her Move
Robert filed the fraud motion at 11:52 that morning.
By 2 p.m., the business accounts were frozen.
By 4 p.m., Vivian was in Robert's office lobby without an appointment, wearing her pearls and a fury she was barely containing behind a composed expression.
Robert called me from his desk phone.
"She's here.
Do you want to be on the line?"
"Yes."
He put me on speaker and set the phone on his desk.
I could hear the sound of the lobby, the low murmur of the receptionist, and then the sharp click of heels on marble as Vivian was shown in.
"Robert." Her voice was pleasant in the way that knives are smooth.
"I assume this is Grace's doing."
"Grace is my client, yes."
"Then I'll speak plainly.
Those accounts hold operating capital for twelve active projects.
Freezing them doesn't hurt Daniel.
It hurts contractors, suppliers, employees.
People who have nothing to do with whatever Grace thinks she's discovered."
"The motion identifies specific accounts tied to the transfers in question," Robert said.
"Operating accounts remain accessible."
A pause.
"You've been thorough."
"We try."
"Robert." Her tone shifted, just slightly.
"I've known you for fifteen years.
We've sat at the same tables.
I think you understand that there are ways to resolve things that don't require courts and investigators and the kind of attention that damages everyone involved, including your client."
"Are you making an offer, Vivian?"
"I'm suggesting that Grace is a young woman who has been through a genuinely terrible week.
She's exhausted, she's emotional, and she's been given documents she may not fully understand.
If she withdraws the motion, Daniel is prepared to enter private mediation.
He'll agree to a generous settlement, full custody arrangement, and a clean separation."
I pressed my hand over my mouth to keep from speaking.
"I'll relay that to Grace," Robert said.
"Please do.
And Robert — tell her that the people Daniel mentioned to her at the hospital are real.
This isn't a family dispute anymore.
There are investors in the Meridian project who have significant exposure if those accounts stay frozen.
They will not wait patiently for a resolution."
"Is that a threat directed at my client?"
A brief silence.
"It's context.
I'd hate for Grace to make a decision without understanding the full picture."
"I'll make sure she has everything she needs," Robert said.
The heels clicked back across the marble.
The lobby door opened and closed.
Robert picked up the phone.
"Grace."
"I heard."
"She's frightened.
Frightened people make mistakes."
"Or they make threats."
"Both," he said.
"The Meridian investors are real.
I've already had my assistant pull the filing.
There are three names on it.
One of them is a man named Victor Crane.
He has a history of aggressive litigation against parties who interfere with his investments."
My chest tightened.
"How aggressive?"
"Aggressive enough that two previous opponents settled within weeks of receiving his first letter." Robert paused.
"Grace, I want you to understand what we're walking into.
This is no longer just Daniel and Vivian.
If we push forward, we may be pushing against people with considerably more resources."
"And if we don't push forward?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"Then Daniel gets away with it.
And Vivian gets away with it.
And Noah grows up in a custody arrangement designed by the people who left him fighting for his life in a hospital while his father was on a beach."
I looked across the room at the window.
The afternoon light was going flat and gray over the Boston skyline.
"Keep pushing," I said.
Robert exhaled slowly.
"I was hoping you'd say that.
Because Patricia just called.
Noah's doctor wants to speak with us.
Apparently a woman came to the pediatric ward this morning asking about Noah's condition and identifying herself as his grandmother."
"Vivian went to see Noah?"
"She didn't go to see him," Robert said.
May you like
"She asked the nurse whether Noah was expected to make a full recovery.
She asked it twice."
