Chapter 19 - THE FIANCÉE’S REAL PLANPolice surrounded Galerie Lumière.
Vivian appeared on the internal security cameras.
She wore the same luxurious red designer dress from the engagement event.
Her dark-red hair fell over one shoulder.
She stood beneath the chandeliers with a silver case at her feet.
The scene was deliberate.
She had returned to the place where Chloe destroyed her future.
Adrian spoke to her through the gallery telephone.
“Open the doors.”
“Bring Chloe.”
“No.”
“Then bring Sophie.”
Sophie reached for the phone.
Adrian stopped her.
“She wants you inside.”
“She has the original financial records.”
“The police have copies.”
“Maybe she has evidence about Camille.”
Adrian looked toward the screen.
Vivian understood Sophie’s greatest vulnerability.
Camille Renard died under Sophie’s name.
Sophie needed the woman’s truth restored.
A police negotiator took control of the call.
Vivian refused to speak with anyone except Adrian or Sophie.
She showed the contents of the silver case to a camera.
Passports.
Account ledgers.
Clinic records.
A small audio recorder.
Then she held up Camille’s identification card.
“I can tell the world who died in the fire,” Vivian said.
“You can tell police from where you are,” Sophie answered through the speaker.
“I want Chloe to hear why I did everything.”
“She is a child.”
“She was supposed to be my daughter.”
“She was never something you could earn.”
Vivian’s expression changed.
“I raised her.”
“You also taught her that her mother abandoned her.”
“I gave her stability.”
“You gave her a lie that made you necessary.”
Vivian looked toward The Blue Garden.
“Adrian would never have loved me while you existed.”
Sophie’s voice remained steady.
“So you erased me.”
“I saved what you were going to destroy.”
“The fraud?”
“The foundation. The family. Adrian.”
“You locked me in a burning room.”
“That was not the plan.”
The negotiator signaled Sophie to continue.
“What was the plan?”
“To frighten you. Take the evidence. Make you stop.”
“And Camille?”
Vivian’s face tightened.
“She should not have been there.”
“Why was she wearing my coat?”
Silence.
“Why did she die with my necklace?”
Vivian looked at the camera.
“Delacroix was supposed to remove everyone before the fire spread.”
The admission was recorded.
She had participated in the plan that placed Camille inside the archive.
Even if the fire started accidentally, the deception afterward was deliberate.
Sophie continued.
“Why keep me alive?”
Vivian laughed bitterly.
“You think it was mercy?”
“No.”
“I wanted you to wake and learn Adrian had accepted your death. I wanted you to know how replaceable you were.”
Sophie absorbed the cruelty.
Then she answered:
“But I wasn’t replaced.”
Vivian’s eyes narrowed.
“Look at the photographs. Look at the ring he gave me.”
“You occupied my absence. That is not the same thing.”
Vivian opened the silver case.
She removed a small device.
Marc recognized it as a remote trigger connected to the gallery’s emergency-release system.
Police could not determine whether it controlled fire, locks or something else.
Vivian placed her thumb above the button.
“Bring Chloe.”
“No,” Adrian and Sophie said together.
Vivian looked toward the camera.
“Then watch me destroy the painting that proves any of this happened.”
Sophie took the microphone.
“The painting is not the truth.”
Vivian hesitated.
“The photographs have copies. The audio has copies. Camille has her name again. Burning the canvas changes nothing.”
For the first time, Vivian appeared lost.
Her power depended on objects controlling belief.
Sophie had removed that power.
Then Chloe’s voice came unexpectedly through the command vehicle.
She had taken Adrian’s second phone.
“Vivian?”
Every adult turned.
Vivian stared at the camera.
“Chloe.”
The little girl spoke softly.
“You told me real mommies don’t leave.”
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears.
“I never wanted to leave you.”
May you like
Chloe answered with the simple truth Vivian could not survive.
“But you made my mommy leave.”
Related Stories
