Chapter 2
Vivienne had called her parents first.
Before the attorney.
Before the police report.
Before she fully understood how badly Julian had hurt her.
She called them because pain makes people reach for the oldest idea of safety.
Mother.
Father.
Home.
Her voice was barely strong enough to pass through the phone.
“Please,” she whispered. “I need help.”
There was silence.
Then her mother exhaled as if Vivienne had inconvenienced her.
“You married him. Handle it yourself.”
Vivienne stared at the ceiling.
Her father’s voice came next, colder and flatter.
“Don’t drag us into your drama.”
Drama.
That was what they called her from the ICU.
Not daughter.
Not injured.
Not terrified.
Drama.
Something inside Vivienne went still.
Not dead.
Not broken.
Still.
She ended the call without begging twice.
Nurse Evelyn saw the change on her face and stepped closer.
“Mrs. Hale?”
Vivienne blinked slowly.
“My attorney,” she said.
Evelyn hesitated.
“You need rest.”
Vivienne turned her head as much as the bandage allowed.
“I need Mara Chen.”
Within forty minutes, Mara was beside the bed.
She did not gasp at the bruises.
She did not ask Vivienne to repeat anything twice.
She simply opened the tablet and said, “Tell me what you want done first.”
Vivienne’s lips trembled.
“Not Julian.”
Mara looked up.
Vivienne swallowed through pain.
“My parents.”
Because before Julian put her in that bed, her parents had already built their comfort on her signature.
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And when she needed them, they had chosen the mortgage she held together over the daughter who was falling apart.
Read the full story 👉 Vivienne’s first legal move was not against her husband, but against the parents who used her name and abandoned her when she needed them.
