Chapter 2 - Forty Minutes Earlier
Grant did not play the footage with Noah in the room.
He sent Tessa and the baby upstairs with his sister, Caroline, who arrived minutes later.
Then he called his attorney.
Vivienne laughed bitterly.
“You need a lawyer to watch your own camera?”
“No.”
Grant looked at her.
“I need a witness.”
That wiped the smile away.
The recording began at 2:14 p.m.
Noah was playing on the rug.
Tessa folded baby clothes near the sofa.
Vivienne entered carrying her purse.
She waited until Tessa left for the laundry room.
Then she made a phone call.
The camera’s microphone captured enough.
“It has to happen before Grant gets home.”
Grant leaned closer.
Vivienne stiffened beside him.
A male voice replied faintly through speakerphone.
“Then create a reason.”
Vivienne said:
“Tessa’s perfect.”
Grant looked at her.
“What reason?”
She said nothing.
Onscreen, Vivienne continued:
“If Grant thinks she endangered Noah, she’s gone.”
The male voice asked:
“And the hearing?”
Vivienne lowered her voice.
“He won’t know until afterward.”
Grant paused the video.
“What hearing?”
Vivienne looked toward the door.
Grant stepped between her and it.
“I asked you a question.”
She folded her arms.
“I was discussing private business.”
“About my son?”
“No.”
Grant resumed the video.
Vivienne opened a drawer beneath the console table.
She removed a small velvet pouch.
Then walked toward Tessa’s handbag.
Grant’s stomach tightened.
She dropped the pouch inside.
When Tessa returned, Vivienne acted normal.
Ten minutes later, she “discovered” the missing jewelry.
Grant stared.
“You planted it.”
Vivienne said:
“I was proving she couldn’t be trusted.”
“By framing her?”
“She’s a caregiver. You barely know her.”
“She’s worked for me eighteen months.”
“And she acts like Noah belongs to her.”
There it was.
Jealousy.
Possession.
Grant kept watching.
Vivienne confronted Tessa.
Tessa denied stealing.
Vivienne threatened to call police.
Then Noah crawled toward the toy.
Vivienne kicked him.
Grant’s hand tightened around the remote.
The rest happened exactly as Tessa described.
Tessa protected Noah.
Vivienne reached for him again.
Tessa slapped her.
Vivienne grabbed the vase.
Then Grant walked in.
Silence filled the room.
Vivienne whispered:
“You don’t understand.”
Grant stopped the recording.
“No.”
He looked directly at her.
“I understand enough.”
Then his attorney pointed toward the screen.
“There’s something else.”
The phone call.
The unknown man had mentioned a hearing.
Grant rewound it.
This time, they heard one more sentence.
Male voice:
“Once the guardianship petition is filed, Mercer can’t interfere.”
Grant went still.
Guardianship.
For Noah.
His son.
May you like
And somebody believed Noah’s own father “couldn’t interfere.”
👉 Vivienne wasn’t trying merely to get Tessa fired—she was preparing a legal move involving Noah that Grant had never authorized.
