Chapter 7
Vivienne changed strategy.
She stopped denying the old payments.
Instead, she claimed Dorian had authorized them verbally during the marriage.
Dorian denied it.
No recording.
No written approval.
One deadlock.
Her attorney also claimed Bellweather provided legitimate family services worth more than the transfers.
Possible.
That would require proof.
Invoices.
Reports.
Work product.
The records were thin.
Then Vivienne filed a civil complaint alleging Dorian threatened her life on the staircase.
The quote existed:
Touch her again, and you’ll be the one who disappears.
Dorian’s criminal-defense instincts immediately told him how bad it sounded.
Samuel Brent told him not to explain it into something worse.
“What did you mean?”
“That I would remove her from my life.”
“From the house?”
“Yes.”
“From family entities?”
“Yes.”
“Physically harm her?”
“No.”
“Then say that once and stop improvising.”
Dorian obeyed.
The prosecutor reviewing the slap and threat did not rush.
The staircase video showed sequence and context.
Vivienne’s shove.
Dorian catching Celeste.
Dorian moving her behind him.
Dorian climbing.
The slap.
The threat.
Both sides had serious conduct to answer for.
No one got a moral exemption.
Meanwhile, Celeste’s obstetrician recommended reduced stress and no more large family gatherings until after delivery.
Dorian canceled everything.
Vivienne’s supporters called it isolation.
Dorian did not care.
Katherine cared enough to document medical advice.
That was the difference.
Then the trust’s independent administrator made a decision.
The baby could be provisionally registered based on the legally documented prenatal paternity test, but the full five-year lookback would begin only if Dorian and Celeste consented to expanded review.
They could choose a narrower audit focused only on Vivienne’s administrative period.
Katherine presented both options.
Narrow review:
Bellweather.
Family Support Reserve.
Clinic access.
Vivienne’s permissions.
Full review:
Every discretionary trust payment for five years.
Dorian’s approvals.
Celeste’s reimbursements.
Family-company transactions.
Related-party vendors.
Potentially unrelated tax and governance problems.
Celeste looked at Dorian.
“You know which one you’re going to choose.”
He did.
Katherine raised a hand.
“Not today.”
Dorian frowned.
“Why?”
“Because choosing full review while angry is still choosing while angry.”
“I don’t need a week.”
“You need one night.”
He hated that.
He took it.
That evening Dorian sat in the nursery they had not finished.
No crib assembled yet.
No name on the wall.
Celeste stood in the doorway.
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“I thought if I had proof first, I could spare you.”
Dorian looked at her.
“Spare me what?”
“Doubt.”
He almost laughed.
“You gave Vivienne the doubt instead.”
“I know.”
He looked toward the unopened crib box.
“Do you still think I’m dangerous when I’m angry?”
Celeste did not answer immediately.
“Yes.”
That was harder than any legal filing.
Dorian nodded.
“Then we fix that too.”
Not:
You’re wrong.
Not:
After what she did, anyone would react.
Just:
We fix that too.
May you like
The following morning he called Katherine.
“Full review.”
