Chapter 2: The Call She Should Never Have Made
The trucks arrived at six in the morning.
Raymond had spent two days building the legal wall.
Everything my father left me — the estate, the furniture, the artwork, the company shares registered in my name — was protected.
Adrian had no right to stop a single box from leaving.
Marina stood at the front door with a clipboard.
I sat in the back of a car across the street, still in recovery, watching through the window.
By noon, the house was nearly empty.
Then my phone rang.
It was Celeste.
"Vivian." Her voice was smooth.
Unbothered.
"I think we should talk like adults."
"We have nothing to talk about."
"Adrian doesn't know I'm calling." She paused.
"But there's something you don't know either.
Something Raymond hasn't found yet."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"The loan wasn't Adrian's idea," she said quietly.
"He didn't even know the full amount.
I handled the paperwork.
I had someone inside your legal team."
The line went silent for a moment.
"If you push this to court, Vivian…
things will come out about your company that you are not ready for."
I looked up.
One of the movers was carrying out the painting my father gave me on my wedding day.
"Thank you for calling, Celeste," I said.
And I ended the call.
May you like
I dialed Raymond immediately.
"She just told me everything we needed to know."
