Chapter 68 HOME ALONE
Vivienne called out of work on Wednesday. She told Eliza it was an emergency. Something had come up and she needed to take care of it before the gala.
Eliza didn't ask questions. She just said 'okay, take care of yourself' and reminded her that tomorrow was their final run-through.
Tomorrow. Then Friday. Then everything would either fall apart or somehow, miraculously, still hold together.
The apartment was lonely without Noah.
Vivienne moved through the rooms like a ghost, trying to find something to do with her hands. She'd already done laundry. Cleaned the kitchen. Organized the junk drawer that didn't need organizing.
Her phone sat on the counter, screen dark and silent.
No messages. No threats. Nothing from the blackmailer since Saturday night.
Four days of total silence. It should have been a relief. Instead, it felt like waiting for lightning to strike.
Vivienne picked up her phone and scrolled through her messages. The last one from the blackmailer still sat there.
She'd read it a hundred times. Looked for clues in the word choice, the punctuation, anything that might tell her who was behind it.
But there was nothing. Just those five words and the certainty that in two days, her entire life would explode.
She set the phone down and walked to the window. Outside, the street looked normal. Cars parked along the curb. Mrs. Chen watering her plants on her stoop. A delivery truck double-parked with its hazards on.
No black sedan. No one obviously watching.
But that didn't mean they weren't there.
Vivienne pulled the curtain closed and stepped back.
She needed to do something. Something productive. Something that would make her feel less like she was drowning.
She'd hung the gala dress in her closet, still in its garment bag. She'd tried it on once since Saturday, just to make sure it still fit, that she hadn't imagined how good it looked.
It fit. It looked perfect. And seeing herself inside the dress made her feel like a fraud.
She couldn't think about the dress right now.
Instead, she went to Noah's room. His bed was made, sort of. The dinosaur comforter pulled up but lumpy. His books were stacked on his nightstand, the mythology one Alexander had given him on top.
Vivienne picked it up and flipped through the pages. Noah had dog-eared several stories. Athena, obviously. But also Hercules, Perseus, Odysseus. All the heroes fighting impossible battles.
She set the book down and noticed the drawings scattered across his desk. New ones she hadn't seen yet, and one that Noah had shown her before.
One showed a woman with a sword fighting a many-headed monster. The woman had wild hair and wore what looked like armor. At the bottom, in Noah's careful handwriting: "Mom as Athena."
Another showed a man in a suit standing on top of a building. "Mr. Hunt at work."
And another, more recent based on the fresh crayon marks, showed all of them together. Her, Noah, Alexander, and Lily at the park. Everyone smiling. Everyone happy.
Noah had no idea how complicated everything was. How dangerous. To him, these were just nice people they'd met. A potential friend for him. A potential... what? For her?
Nothing. Alexander Hunt was nothing to her except a paycheck and a massive liability.
Except that wasn't true, and she knew it.
Monday's almost-kiss had been replaying in her head for two days. The way he'd looked at her. The way her whole body had leaned toward him without permission. The way his restraint had felt like rejection even though she shouldn't have cared.
But she did.
Vivienne left Noah's room and went back to the kitchen. She needed coffee. Or a drink. Or something that would make the next two days pass faster.
She was pouring her third cup of coffee when her phone rang.
Rebecca's name flashed on the screen.
Vivienne answered immediately. "Hey. Everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah." Rebecca's voice had that careful tone people used when they were trying not to worry you. "Only I just picked him up from school and I noticed some bruises on his arms. Nothing major, but I thought you should know."
Vivienne's coffee cup hit the counter hard. "Bruises? What kind of bruises?"
"Just regular kid bruises. You know how rough they get on the playground." Rebecca was using her calm voice now. "He said they were playing tag and he fell trying to dodge someone. But I thought maybe we should get them checked out. Just to be safe."
"Where is he now?"
"We're in the car. I can bring him home, or we can go straight to the pediatrician. Whatever you want."
Vivienne's mind was already spinning. Bruises. On Noah. After everything with the blackmailer. After the baby blanket covered in blood-like stains.
Was this them? Had they hurt Noah?
"Vivienne?" Rebecca's voice pulled her back. "You there?"
"Yeah. Sorry. Take him to Dr. Diane's office. I'll meet you there."
"Okay. He's really fine, I promise. He's sitting here eating Goldfish crackers and telling me about some card game they played at lunch. I just think it's better to be cautious."
"Thank you for calling me." Vivienne was already grabbing her keys. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
She hung up and stood there for a second, trying to breathe.
Noah was fine. Rebecca said he was fine. The bruises were probably nothing.
But probably wasn't good enough anymore.
Not when someone was threatening her. Not when they'd been in her apartment, taken Noah's baby blanket, and left it covered in fake blood.
Not when she had no idea what they were capable of.
Vivienne grabbed her jacket and her bag and headed for the door.
Her phone vibrated just as she reached the hallway.
A text from Marcus: "Checking in. You ready for Friday?"
She stared at the message. No. She wasn't ready. She'd never be ready.
"Getting there," she typed back. "Talk later."
Another lie. But what else was new?
The drive to Dr. Diane's office felt like it took hours even though it was only twelve minutes. Vivienne hit every red light, got stuck behind a bus, had to circle the block twice to find parking.
By the time she walked into the waiting room, she'd convinced herself of at least five different worst-case scenarios.
But then she saw Noah.
He was sitting next to Rebecca, reading a picture book about dinosaurs. When he looked up and saw her, his face lit up.
"Mom! I got a bruise shaped like a lightning bolt. Want to see?"
Vivienne crossed the waiting room and crouched down in front of him. "Let me see, baby."
Noah rolled up his sleeve, revealing a dark purple bruise on his forearm. It did kind of look like a lightning bolt if you squinted.
"Jacob said it's cool because it looks like Harry Potter's scar but on my arm instead of my forehead."
"It's very cool," Vivienne managed. She checked his other arm. Two smaller bruises on his elbow. Nothing that looked deliberate. Nothing that looked like someone had grabbed him.
Just normal playground damage.
"Rebecca said we have to see the doctor to make sure I'm not broken," Noah said very seriously. "But I don't feel broken."
"We just want to make sure," Vivienne said. "Sometimes bruises can be sneaky."
"Noah Cross?" A nurse appeared in the doorway with a clipboard.
Rebecca stood up. "Want me to come with you?"
"I can take it from here. Thank you for bringing him." Vivienne took Noah's hand. "I'll text you when we're done."
"Of course. Call if you need anything."
The nurse led them back to an examination room. It was the same one they'd been in dozens of times before. Same cartoon animals painted on the walls. Same exam table with crinkly paper. Same smell of antiseptic and something vaguely fruity.
Noah climbed onto the exam table without being asked. He was used to this routine.
"Dr. Diane will be right in," the nurse said, making notes on her tablet. "Just a quick check, right? Some bruises we want to look at?"
"Yes," Vivienne said. "He fell at school."
"Happens all the time." The nurse smiled at Noah. "You must be pretty active on that playground."
"I'm the fastest runner in my class," Noah announced proudly. "Except maybe for this girl Mia, but she has longer legs, so it's not really fair."
The nurse laughed and left them alone.
Noah picked up a puzzle toy from the counter and started working on it, content to wait.
Vivienne sat in the plastic chair and tried to calm down. This was fine. Everything was fine. Just a precautionary visit. Nothing to worry about.
But her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
And the feeling that something bad was coming and wouldn't easily go away.