Chapter 83 Time to leave!
Vivienne's POV
“How do you want me to answer?"
I looked at Monica, then at Sarah, then back at Monica.
"If they ask directly, what should I say?" I asked.
Monica leaned back in her chair, her fingers steepled together.
"Legally, you don't have to answer questions about your medical condition. We can claim it's irrelevant to the divorce proceedings. But if we refuse to answer, they'll know something is up.
They'll push harder. They might subpoena medical records anyway just to find out what we're hiding."
"So I should lie?"
"I'm not advising you to lie under oath," Monica said carefully. "That would be perjury and could destroy your entire case.
What I'm saying is that you need to decide if you want to disclose the pregnancy now, during the hearing, or if you want to wait until after we've secured the preliminary rulings on asset disclosure and temporary support."
"What's the difference?"
"Timing," Monica said. "If you disclose now, Raphael's team will use it immediately to attack your character. They'll paint you as an unfaithful wife who got pregnant with another man's child during your marriage. It gives them ammunition right when we're trying to establish that you're entitled to marital assets."
"But the pregnancy is his. But what if I wait then?"
"If we wait until after the preliminary hearing, we'll hopefully have already secured orders for full financial disclosure and temporary spousal support. Once those are in place, the pregnancy becomes less relevant to the core financial issues.
It's still going to be used against you eventually, but the timing matters."
I thought about it. About standing in a courtroom in five days, under oath, potentially being asked if I was pregnant. About having to choose between telling the truth and protecting my case.
"I don't want to lie," I said finally. "If they ask me directly, I'll tell the truth. But I'm not volunteering the information unless I have to."
Monica nodded. "That's a reasonable approach. Just be prepared for the fallout if it comes out during the hearing."
We continued preparing for another hour. Monica threw potential questions at me, making me practice answering calmly and clearly. She showed me documents I might be asked about. She explained courtroom procedure and protocol.
By the time we finished, my head was spinning with information.
"Go home and rest," Monica said. "We'll meet again the day before the hearing for a final prep session. And Vivienne? Try not to worry too much. We have a strong case. The prenup fraud alone is huge.
The wrongful termination adds to it.
Your former colleagues' testimony will help establish your contributions to the company. We're in a good position."
I wanted to believe her. But as Sarah and I walked back to her apartment, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. That somehow, despite all our preparation, Raphael would find a way to destroy me.
That evening, I tried to distract myself by helping Sarah with dinner and watching mindless TV. But my thoughts kept drifting back to the hearing. To Raphael sitting across the courtroom from me. To his lawyers attacking my character and my choices and my worth.
Around eight o'clock, Sarah's phone rang. She looked at the screen and frowned.
"It's my cousin Monica," she said. "On her personal line, not her work number."
She answered and her expression changed immediately.
"What? When? Are you sure?"
She listened for another minute, her face getting darker.
"Okay. Yeah. I'll tell her. Thanks for the heads up."
She hung up and looked at me.
"That was Monica. She just got a call from a contact at the courthouse. Raphael's legal team filed an emergency motion this afternoon. They're trying to move up the hearing to tomorrow morning."
"What? They can't do that. Can they?"
"Apparently they're claiming they've discovered new evidence that requires immediate judicial review. Something about financial irregularities that they say you were involved in at Moreau Industries."
My stomach dropped. "Financial irregularities? What are they talking about?"
"Monica doesn't know yet. She only got a heads up that the motion was filed. She's going to the courthouse first thing tomorrow morning to review the documents and file an opposition.
But Viv, if the judge grants their motion, you could be in court tomorrow afternoon instead of next week."
"I'm not ready," I said, panic rising in my chest. "I need more time. We just went over everything today. I can't—"
"Hey," Sarah said, sitting down next to me and taking my hands. "Breathe. Just breathe. Monica said she's going to fight the motion. Judges don't usually grant last-minute schedule changes without good reason.
This is probably just a tactic to throw us off balance."
"It's working," I said. "I'm definitely off balance."
My phone rang. Monica's work number this time.
"Vivienne, I assume Sarah told you about the emergency motion?"
"Yes."
"I'm reviewing the filing right now. They're claiming they've discovered evidence that you were involved in embezzling company funds. That you created false expense reports and received kickbacks from vendors."
"That's insane," I said. "I never did anything like that. I didn't even have access to that level of financial systems."
"I know. It's clearly fabricated. But they've attached what looks like documentation. Expense reports with your name on them. Email communications that allegedly show you coordinating with vendors.
Bank records showing deposits into your personal account that they claim are kickbacks."
"None of that is real," I said. "I never embezzled anything. Where would they even get fake documents that look legitimate?"
"That's what we're going to find out," Monica said grimly. "This is fraud. If they've fabricated evidence, that's a serious crime.
But first we need to prove it's fabricated, which means we need time to investigate. Which is why I'm going to argue strenuously against moving up the hearing."
"What if the judge grants it anyway?"
"Then we go to court tomorrow and we fight. We show that their so-called evidence is fraudulent. We attack their credibility. We make them prove every single allegation. And Vivienne, we document every lie they tell so we can use it against them later."
After she hung up, I sat there feeling numb.
Embezzlement. They were accusing me of embezzlement now. Not just infidelity or being a gold digger. Actual crimes.
"This is Raphael," I said to Sarah. "This is him trying to destroy me completely. It's not enough to divorce me and take everything. He wants to ruin my reputation. Make sure I can never work anywhere again. Maybe even get me arrested."
"He's not going to succeed," Sarah said firmly. "Because you didn't do anything wrong. And lies don't hold up under scrutiny. Monica will expose this for the fraud it is."
And that was it. My clue to actually leave this city with my unborn child. And stay far away from Raphael and his deceptive life.