Chapter 7 - What Vivian Had Been Telling Everyone
Megan called Claire the next morning.
“I should’ve said something at dinner.”
Claire sat at the kitchen table while Ruth slept upstairs.
“Yes.”
Megan paused.
“I thought you knew.”
“That seems to be everybody’s favorite sentence this week.”
“I deserve that.”
Claire softened slightly.
“What did Vivian tell you?”
Megan hesitated.
Then the story came out.
Vivian had been talking about Claire for months.
Claire and Ethan were supposedly living rent-free because they were struggling financially.
Ruth was supposedly paying Claire three thousand dollars a month.
Claire supposedly refused to return to regular work because “taking care of Ruth is easier.”
Claire closed her eyes.
None of it was entirely fabricated.
That made it effective.
Claire and Ethan were living in Ruth’s guest apartment.
Ruth had intended to give them money.
Claire had paused her freelance event-design work.
But Vivian arranged the facts to create a different woman.
Lazy.
Dependent.
Opportunistic.
“Did Ethan know she was saying this?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Who else?”
“Pretty much everyone.”
Claire looked through the window.
Vivian had created an audience before creating the humiliation.
That was why nobody intervened.
They had already been trained to see Claire as someone receiving more than she gave.
Megan continued.
“There’s something else.”
Claire waited.
“Vivian complained at Christmas that Aunt Ruth’s care was costing six grand a month.”
Claire frowned.
“Six?”
“Yeah.”
“Why six?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire wrote the number down.
Three thousand had gone into Vivian’s company.
Where was the other three?
Ruth’s records provided the answer.
There had been legitimate expenses.
A house cleaner twice weekly.
Meal deliveries during the first two weeks after surgery.
Transportation to one medical appointment.
But nowhere near another three thousand each month.
Then Claire found a recurring check.
$2,850.
Payee:
VH FAMILY SERVICES.
Claire stared at it.
“Ruth?”
Ruth adjusted her glasses.
“I’ve never heard of that.”
Ethan searched the Illinois business registry.
VH Family Services LLC had been incorporated eleven months earlier.
Registered agent:
Vivian Hale.
Claire felt her stomach drop.
They requested copies of cleared checks through the bank.
Four months.
$11,400.
In addition to the fifteen thousand sent to Vivian Hale Interiors.
More than twenty-six thousand dollars of Ruth’s money had flowed through Vivian-controlled businesses during Claire’s time caregiving.
Ruth looked physically sick.
“What was Family Services supposed to be?”
Claire found the description in Vivian’s monthly summaries.
Care coordination.
Transportation.
Household support.
Services Claire had largely provided for free.
Ethan pushed away from the table.
“She billed Mom for Claire’s work.”
Claire shook her head.
“Not exactly.”
They still needed evidence showing what Vivian claimed the company provided.
But the pattern was becoming difficult to misunderstand.
Claire remembered Vivian asking for appointment times.
Grocery hours.
Overnight stays.
Every question had sounded like family coordination.
Now they looked like source material for invoices.
Ethan stared at the printouts.
“I’m going over there.”
Claire caught his wrist.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“She used you.”
“I know.”
“She used Mom.”
“I know.”
“And you want to wait?”
“I want proof.”
Claire released him.
“If I confront her now, she’ll give us another story.”
Ethan looked at his wife.
For once, he did not try to solve it for her.
“What do you want to do?”
May you like
Claire looked at the four checks.
“I want to find out exactly what she sold to your mother using my name.”
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