I nearly laughed.
“You owe several people prison time.”
Her mouth tightened.
“Possibly.”
At least she was learning.
She looked toward the garden.
“I hated you because Arthur liked you.”
Julian’s grandfather.
I frowned.
“He met me twice.”
“Three times.”
I waited.
Vivian looked at me.
“He changed the trust after the third time.”
A chill moved through me.
“What?”
“He told me you reminded him of Julian’s grandmother.”
I said nothing.
“He believed you would give Julian the courage to stop needing my approval.”
Something almost like shame crossed her face.
“And he was right.”
“Then why the fertility tests?”
Vivian went still.
I noticed.
“What about them?”
There was something wrong with the question.
A tiny hesitation.
A fraction too long.
My pulse changed.
“Were the results real?”
Vivian looked away.
I stood.
“Vivian.”
She closed her eyes.
And suddenly I knew the story was not finished.
“The specialist was recommended by you.”
No answer.
“You made the appointment.”
Silence.
My skin went cold.
“What did you do?”
Vivian opened her eyes.
“I changed nothing about your results.”
I stared at her.
“But Julian’s?”
She said nothing.
My heart began hammering.
“His sperm count was never low.”
Vivian’s face crumpled.
I stepped backward.
“Oh my God.”
“I needed him to believe—”
“You falsified his medical records?”
“It was temporary.”
“Temporary?”
My voice rose.
“You convinced two people they might never have children!”
“I needed time.”
“For what?”
“To complete the transfer negotiations.”
“The Hensley merger?”
“No.”
That stopped me.
Vivian looked toward the building behind us.
Then whispered something I almost did not hear.
“Arthur had discovered what I did.”
“What you did with what?”
“The company.”
I stared.
She laughed weakly.
“You all thought I was protecting my control.”
“You were.”
“Yes.”
She looked at me.
“But you still don’t understand why.”
My phone buzzed.
Julian.
I ignored it.
Vivian continued.
“Years ago, I moved money through subsidiaries to cover your father’s debts.”
I frowned.
“My father?”
My father had died when I was nineteen.
A mechanic.
A kind, quiet man who had never been within a thousand miles of Prescott International.
“What are you talking about?”
Vivian studied my face.
Then all the blood seemed to leave hers.
“You don’t know.”
The world shifted.
“Know what?”
She whispered, “Arthur was your father.”
I stopped breathing.
The garden disappeared.
“No.”
Vivian closed her eyes.
“Your mother worked for him before you were born.”
“No.”
“He supported her privately.”
“No.”
“I found the records after Arthur died.”
I backed away.
“That’s impossible.”
“He left money to her through intermediaries.”
“No.”
Then Vivian said the sentence that tore the last illusion apart.
“That is why I could never allow you to marry Julian.”
My mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
She looked almost relieved now that the secret existed outside her.
“Arthur Prescott was your biological father.”
I shook my head.
“Julian is Arthur’s grandson.”
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“No.”
Vivian looked confused.
Then understanding struck her.
And suddenly, unbelievably, she laughed.
Not cruelly.
Almost hysterically.
“No.
Claire.”
I stared at her.
“Julian is not Arthur’s biological grandson.”
Everything stopped.
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears.
“My husband, Richard, was not Arthur’s son.”
I could barely follow.
She looked down at her hands.
“Arthur knew.”
I whispered, “What?”
“Richard was my son from before I married into the Prescott family.”
My entire body went cold.
“Arthur adopted him.”
“Yes.”
“So Julian and I…”
“Share no blood.”
The pear blossoms moved in the wind above us.
