Chapter 4 - WHY VIVIAN SAID SHE LIEDVivian did not deny Claire was alive.
That surprised Daniel.
They sat in the library.
Rebecca joined by speakerphone at Daniel’s insistence.
Maisie was with Daniel’s sister, Natalie, for the morning.
“Start with the death,” Daniel said.
Vivian folded her hands.
“Claire disappeared again.”
“She relapsed?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“Proof?”
Vivian looked away.
“She told me.”
Daniel stared.
“You were communicating with her?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since before we married.”
That hurt differently.
Claire had contacted Vivian after learning Daniel planned to remarry.
At first the messages were hostile.
Claire accused Vivian of replacing her.
Vivian told her to focus on sobriety.
Then communication became practical.
Birthday information.
Maisie’s clothing size.
School pictures.
At times, Vivian even sent photographs.
Daniel had known none of it.
“Why?”
“Because whenever Claire contacted you, you stopped sleeping.”
“That was my decision to manage.”
“I was trying to protect this house.”
Rebecca interrupted.
“Mrs. Bennett, continue with the alleged death.”
Vivian swallowed.
Claire relapsed briefly after eighteen months of sobriety.
She entered a detox program voluntarily.
During that period, according to Vivian, Claire wrote:
Maybe Maisie would be better off if everybody acted like I was dead.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Vivian continued.
“She said she kept hurting her.”
“That is not the same as being dead.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Vivian started crying.
“Because Maisie had finally stopped waiting for her.”
Daniel stared.
“Claire would send something. Then disappear. Promise a visit. Cancel. Ask for pictures. Go silent. Every time she returned, Maisie became anxious.”
Some of that Daniel remembered.
Maisie asking when Mommy was coming.
Then wetting the bed after a canceled video call.
The pattern had been painful.
Vivian had been the one comforting her.
Then Claire relapsed.
Vivian made a choice.
She told Claire:
“If you truly believe Maisie is better without you, stop contacting us.”
Claire disappeared into treatment.
Vivian told Daniel Claire had died.
“Why would you tell me that?”
“Because if I told you she relapsed again, you would wait for the next recovery.”
“She is Maisie’s mother.”
“She was destroying her.”
Daniel slammed his palm onto the desk.
“And you decided death was healthier?”
Vivian flinched.
“Yes.”
The honesty stunned him.
Then Rebecca asked:
“Why keep the letters?”
Vivian looked toward the ceiling.
“When Claire got sober again, she started sending them.”
“Why not destroy them all?”
“I did some.”
Daniel thought of Maisie’s words.
She burns Mommy’s letters when you leave.
His stomach tightened.
Vivian continued:
“I kept the ones I thought might matter someday.”
“To whom?”
“To Maisie.”
“Then why hide them?”
“I was waiting.”
“For what?”
Vivian did not answer.
Daniel already knew part of it.
“Adoption.”
Her face changed.
There.
Vivian had wanted to adopt Maisie for nearly two years.
Daniel had hesitated.
Not because he doubted Vivian loved his daughter.
Because Claire’s parental rights remained legally intact.
After Vivian reported Claire dead, she began gently raising adoption again.
Daniel remembered.
“Maisie should have a mother legally.”
“You are already raising her.”
“If something happened to you, Daniel, I could lose her.”
That fear had sounded reasonable.
Now Daniel looked at Vivian.
“You needed Claire gone.”
“I needed stability.”
“You needed her gone.”
May you like
Vivian whispered:
“Yes.”
Related Stories
