That evening, Lily called Melissa from Grant’s apartment and asked when she could visit.
Melissa said she would be well enough for a short visit on Sunday.
After the call, she watched a video of the children building a blanket fort.
She cried because their lives had continued while hers seemed suspended.
Joanne sat beside her without offering advice.
Sometimes the absence of advice was the most generous thing anyone gave her.
Chapter 27: Vivien’s Question
Vivien Whitmore arrived at Joanne’s house on a Thursday morning without Charles or his security staff.
She stood on the porch holding no flowers, no gifts, and no rehearsed speech.
Joanne was reluctant to admit her, but Melissa asked to hear what she had come to say.
Vivien began by asking about Melissa’s recovery.
Melissa described the appointments, the exhaustion, and the paperwork that had grown heavier than she could carry.
Vivien listened without interrupting.
Then she asked a question that changed the conversation.
“Did Charles promise you a promotion?”
Melissa felt her face warm.
“He mentioned it before I signed.”
Vivien closed her eyes.
“He told me you had offered to help before he approached you.”
Melissa shook her head.
“He asked me after a company breakfast.”
Vivien explained that she had believed the clinic would find a candidate through independent screening.
Charles had told her Melissa had volunteered and that legal safeguards were already in place.
“I never asked him to recruit an employee,” Vivien said.
Melissa looked at Joanne, who had gone very still.
Vivien admitted that she had relied on Charles to manage matters because she was frightened of another failed attempt to have a child.
She did not ask Melissa to forgive her.
Instead, she asked what documents could be reviewed without compromising medical privacy.
Melissa said Rachel was handling the matter.
Vivien offered to speak with Rachel directly and provide records from the family office.
Joanne asked whether Charles knew she was there.
“No,” Vivien replied.
“He would have told me not to come.”
Vivien said she wanted the baby to grow up with an honest account of the people who had helped bring the child into the world.
Melissa looked toward a framed school photograph of Lily, Noah, and Ben.
“I want my own children to know I didn’t disappear because I stopped loving them,” she said.
Vivien promised nothing beyond cooperation.
After she left, Melissa called Rachel and reported the conversation in detail.
Rachel said it could become important if documented carefully.
