Chapter 78 Decisions
Vivienne's POV
I thought about it. Two months ago. That would have been late summer. Raphael had been distant for months by then. Had been working late constantly. Had barely spoken to me beyond necessary logistics.
"I think so," I said slowly. "I mean, he didn't officially ask until a few weeks ago. But he was already pulling away. Already detached. I think he had already made the decision and was just waiting for the right time."
Monica wrote something down. "Here's what we're going to argue. Your marriage wasn't already effectively over. You and Raphael were emotionally involved.
What happened with Raphael was simply your marital obligations.”
"Will that work?"
"It's the truth and so it will work," Monica said pragmatically. "And the fact that Raphel had already created fraudulent prenup documents before you married suggests premeditation on his part. He was already planning to discard you from the beginning.
That supports the narrative that your marriage broke down because of his manipulation, not because of anything."
"But I'm pregnant," I said. "With his child. During my marriage to Raphael."
"You're pregnant after your marriage had already ended emotionally and practically," Monica corrected. "There's a difference.
And Vivienne, legally speaking, this doesn't change your entitlement to marital assets. Community property doesn't disappear because of anything in most cases. Even if they try to use this against your character, the financial facts remain the same."
I wanted to believe her. I wanted to trust that this wouldn't destroy everything we had built.
But I couldn't shake the feeling that everything was falling apart all over again.
“I can't continue with this anymore, I'm exhausted.”
I left her office the moment the words left my mouth. But Monica pleaded with me to come back and I did.
"What about Raphael?" Sarah asked.
"Does Viv need to tell him?"
Monica looked at me seriously. "That's not a legal question. That's a personal one. Legally, you have no obligation to inform him about the pregnancy. Morally and practically, that's your decision to make."
I thought about Raphael at that gala with his new fiancée. About the article calling me a "temporary connection." About how I had served my purpose in his life and been discarded.
Just like Marcus had discarded me.
"I don't want to tell him," I said. "He made it clear I wasn't important to him. Why should I involve him now?"
"Because he's the father," Sarah said gently. "Because this child is his, whether he wants that or not. Because he has a right to know, even if he's a complete asshole."
She was probably right. But the thought of reaching out to Raphael, of telling him I was pregnant, of potentially being rejected or dismissed or used all over again, made me feel sick.
"I need time to think about it," I said finally.
Monica nodded. "That's fair. But Vivienne, you need to make a decision soon. You're seven weeks along. If you're going to inform the father, sooner is better than later.
And you also need to make decisions about the pregnancy itself. About whether you want to continue it."
Whether I wanted to continue it.
I hadn't even let myself think about that option yet. About not being pregnant. About ending this before it became more real.
But even as I thought about it, my hand moved unconsciously to my stomach. To the place where a tiny cluster of cells was growing into something that would eventually be a person.
A person who didn't ask to be created. Who didn't ask to be caught in the middle of my messy, complicated life.
"I don't know," I whispered. "I don't know what I want."
"You have time," Monica said gently. "Not a lot of time, but some. Think about it. Talk to Sarah. Talk to a counselor if you need to. Make the decision that's right for you."
We left Monica's office an hour later with a plan. Sort of. Monica would prepare a response to the tabloid stories, She would continue building the divorce case, incorporating this new information but not letting it derail our strategy.
And I would figure out what to do about the pregnancy.
That night, I lay on Sarah's pull-out couch again, my hand on my stomach, thinking about choices and consequences and the mess I had made of my life.
Pregnant with Raphael Moreau's baby.
Getting divorced from him is a lot to take in
Fighting for money and dignity and some kind of future I couldn't even picture anymore
.
How had I gotten here?