Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Elowen was still crying, but Vivienne could barely make out the words anymore.

Vivienne remained silent for a long time before finally coming back to herself.

She lowered her head, glanced at her rounded belly, and sighed softly. "Mom, there's no need to dwell on the past. Allegra is Allegra. You are you. You raised her all these years. You did everything you should have, gave everything you could. Where she ended up is her own choice. It has nothing to do with you. As for Archibald, whether he owes the Mellon family a debt of gratitude is his own business. He and I have no relationship anymore. His debt—I won't repay it for him, and I don't need to."

Elowen sobbed uncontrollably on the other end.

"As for Mr. Martinez, I'll have him cooperate with you." Vivienne said. "He does have certain channels. He can gather information faster than most firms. Whether he can track down Allegra's whereabouts, I can't guarantee. But he'll do his best. This is all I can do within my capacity. Nothing more."

"Vivi..." Elowen's voice trembled. She wanted to say thank you, but the words felt too flimsy to carry any real weight.

"You don't need to thank me." A trace of exhaustion colored Vivienne's voice. "As long as Allegra's out there, she's a threat to me and my children. Finding her does me no harm."

After hanging up, Vivienne sat by the bay window, staring out at the night, saying nothing for a long time.

Sabrina walked over and handed her a glass of warm water.

Vivienne cradled the glass, feeling the warmth against her palms. For some reason, a memory from many years ago suddenly surfaced.

It was shortly after she and Archibald got married. One night he came home late from work and sat on the edge of the bed for a long time without speaking.

She'd asked what was wrong. He'd been silent for a while before saying Allegra wanted to switch majors and needed his help.

At the time, she'd said, "She's your sister. If you can help, then help."

He'd looked at her then. Only now did she understand that look.

It wasn't hesitation. It wasn't difficulty. It was the bewilderment of someone who'd carried a debt for over twenty years, with no idea when he'd ever finish repaying it.

"What are you thinking about?" Sabrina's voice pulled her back.

"I'm thinking about an answer." Vivienne turned and gave Sabrina a faint smile. "From beginning to end, it was never love. Every time he indulged Allegra, every time he chose silence between her and me—it wasn't because he loved her. It was because he owed her father his life. When he was seven, his father told him, 'Your life was bought with Heath's life.' He's lived inside that sentence since he was seven. All the way to now."

Sabrina froze.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found she couldn't come up with a single word to respond.

Vivienne walked over to the desk, sat down, picked up her pencil, and opened her sketchbook to continue the unfinished design series.

But as she drew, she suddenly stopped.

So all those times he'd broken her heart by going soft—it had never been because of love.

He'd just been repaying a debt he didn't know how to settle.

She'd asked herself countless times whether he loved her.

Now she finally had her answer.

He loved her. But he feared owing debts more.

He'd been nailed to a cross by that single sentence his whole life, with no strength left even to struggle.

But this answer had come too late.

So late that she no longer needed it.

Sawyer's call came at 5:30 a.m.

Vivienne was jolted awake from shallow sleep by the vibration of her phone.

Since becoming pregnant, she'd been a light sleeper. The slightest sound woke her.

She fumbled for the phone on the nightstand. When she saw Sawyer's name on the screen, her heart tightened.

Sawyer never called her at this hour unless something major had happened.

"Mr. Martinez?" She answered immediately.

"Ms. Branpia, sorry to disturb you so early. We've located Allegra."

Vivienne sat bolt upright. "Where is she?"

"She hasn't left the country." Sawyer said. "She's in the neighboring city. One of my sources photographed her last night near a private estate in the suburbs. She changed her hairstyle and dyed her hair, but facial recognition confirmed it's her. No mistake. The estate's property rights are held under a shell company registered to Gavin. On the surface, it's an agritourism farm. In reality, there's a private security team patrolling twenty-four hours. No outsiders can get in."

"Gavin's hiding her." Vivienne said.

"Yes, but it's more than just hiding." Sawyer's tone grew grave. "My source staked it out all night and captured some things. Allegra's not living there alone. Other people have been coming and going from the estate. Based on their clothing and behavior, they're not ordinary servants. I had my source check the estate's recent supply procurement records. The volume far exceeds what two people would consume, and the purchase list includes large quantities of medical supplies and chemical reagents. Ms. Branpia, Gavin isn't protecting her. I'm afraid Gavin's keeping her the way someone keeps a canary. He's planning to use Allegra to pull off something big."

Vivienne's heart clenched. "What?"

"Something aimed at you." Sawyer said. "Allegra has nothing left now. She's not afraid of anything anymore. For someone like that, the scariest thing isn't that she hates you—it's that she hates you so much she doesn't care about the consequences. Gavin saw that and is using her as his final card. He doesn't need her to succeed. He just needs her to strike. As long as she makes a move, no matter the outcome, Gavin can escape in the chaos."

Vivienne fell silent for a few seconds.

When she spoke again, her voice was surprisingly calm. "Can your people map out the exact location and security setup?"

"Already working on it. By noon today, we'll have the full estate layout and security deployment." Sawyer paused, then added, "Ms. Branpia, my recommendation is to hand everything over to the police immediately once we have the blueprints. They have an arrest warrant. They can raid the place directly. Now that we have concrete evidence of Allegra's hideout, the police have no reason to delay."

"I agree." Vivienne said. "But notify Ryder about this. He has channels to liaise with the police through the Carnegie Group. Going through official channels will be faster than us filing a report ourselves."

Sawyer acknowledged and hung up.

Vivienne set down the phone, walked to the bay window, and stood there watching the gradually brightening sky, lost in thought.

Allegra hadn't given up.

But this time was different.