Chapter 6 - The Wife Who Answered Too Much
Vivienne returned to the mansion twelve days later.
She brought two attorneys.
And made one mistake.
She believed Marcus was still silent.
The meeting took place in the formal dining room.
Bennett sat beside Marcus.
Two federal investigators waited in the adjoining room.
I stood near the windows.
Vivienne entered wearing white.
Calm.
Elegant.
Untouchable.
She looked at Marcus.
“Darling.”
His expression did not change.
She sat.
Her attorney opened a folder.
“We are here to resolve the temporary dispute involving Mrs. Vale’s financial authority.”
Bennett leaned back.
“Temporary?”
Vivienne smiled.
“Marcus has been incapacitated for nearly two years.”
Marcus looked at her.
She continued.
“He cannot understand complex business matters.”
His hand closed slowly around the arm of the chair.
“He cannot speak.”
Marcus looked at me.
I gave him the smallest nod.
Not because he needed permission.
Because he needed to know somebody was there.
Vivienne opened another folder.
“These allegations about medication are absurd. Marcus was traumatized after his accident. Simon Keller was treating him.”
Bennett said, “Dr. Keller is cooperating with federal investigators.”
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
“That’s unfortunate for him.”
“He says you instructed him to keep Marcus sedated.”
“That’s a lie.”
“He also says you paid him through East Harbor Capital.”
Vivienne’s attorney turned toward her.
She ignored him.
Bennett slid a document across the table.
“And this?”
Vivienne looked at it.
“A valid corporate transfer.”
“Marcus says the signature is forged.”
She laughed.
“Marcus says?”
She turned toward her husband.
“Marcus hasn’t said anything in two years.”
Silence.
Bennett leaned back.
Vivienne continued.
“My husband is ill. He has been ill for a long time. I protected this family when he no longer could.”
Marcus opened his mouth.
Nothing.
Vivienne smiled.
That smile was her second mistake.
“You see?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Breathed.
Then looked directly at her.
“No.”
The word was rough.
Low.
But perfectly clear.
Vivienne stopped moving.
Her attorney stared at Marcus.
Marcus swallowed.
“No.”
Again.
Stronger.
Vivienne’s face emptied.
Marcus leaned forward.
“You…”
The sound caught.
I watched his breathing.
Slow.
Controlled.
“…forged…”
Vivienne stood.
“This is a performance.”
Marcus forced the rest.
“My…name.”
Bennett said nothing.
He didn’t need to.
Vivienne stepped backward.
Marcus looked at the transfer documents.
“You…drugged…me.”
Her attorney whispered, “Vivienne, do not respond.”
She ignored him.
“You were falling apart!”
Marcus’s eyes hardened.
“You were paranoid. Violent. Impossible.”
“Stop talking,” her attorney said.
“You needed me!”
Marcus’s voice was painful but steadier now.
“Luca.”
Vivienne froze.
Bennett leaned forward.
“Where is Luca?”
Her attorney said, “This meeting is over.”
Vivienne snapped, “Luca should have stayed out of it.”
The adjoining door opened.
Two federal investigators entered.
Vivienne turned white.
The lead investigator spoke calmly.
“Mrs. Vale, we’d like you to come with us.”
Her attorney stood.
“She is not answering questions.”
Marcus spoke again.
“Where?”
Everyone looked at him.
He repeated it.
“Where…is…my brother?”
Vivienne stared at him.
For the first time, she looked defeated.
“He’s alive.”
Marcus stood.
“Where?”
She said nothing.
The investigators escorted her out.
Forty-eight hours later, they found Luca Vale in a private rehabilitation facility in Connecticut under another surname.
He had been alive the entire time.
Medicated.
Isolated.
Declared psychologically unstable through paperwork signed by the same doctor who had treated Marcus.
Luca remembered everything.
That was the end of Vivienne’s defense.
Keller accepted a cooperation agreement.
The forged transfers were frozen.
The sale of Vale Marine Logistics was canceled.
Vivienne faced charges involving fraud, conspiracy, unlawful restraint, forged documents, and financial crimes.
But Marcus cared about only one thing.
The afternoon Luca returned to Oyster Bay, Marcus waited at the entrance.
Luca stepped from the car slowly.
He was thinner than his brother.
Older-looking than thirty-seven.
For a few seconds, neither man moved.
Then Luca said, “You look terrible.”
Marcus’s mouth twitched.
His voice was still rough.
“So do you.”
Luca laughed.
Then he crossed the distance between them.
The brothers embraced.
Arthur turned away.
I pretended not to notice him crying again.
“Dust?” I asked.
“Wind.”
“We’re indoors.”
“Very aggressive wind.”
Marcus looked over Luca’s shoulder at me.
For the first time since I had entered that mansion, the house did not feel like a prison.
May you like
It felt like someone had opened a door.
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