Vivienne stood in the kitchen long after Daniel’s footsteps disappeared upstairs
His words kept repeating in her mind each one landing with a different weight than the last
“She’s going to win Vivienne”
He had said it so simply like it was already decided like there had never been any real fight left to begin with
Her eyes moved slowly toward the staircase
Then back to the counter
Then to her phone
Nothing about what he said fully settled not the claim about lawyers not the sudden fear in his voice not the way he had looked past her instead of at her when he spoke about Mara
She replayed it again trying to find the point where it made sense
But it did not
And that was what unsettled her most
Upstairs a door closed softly
Vivienne exhaled once controlled then reached for her pho
