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THE TRUTH
JOSH
The call came just as I was leaving practice.
“Mr. Saunders?”
“Yeah, this is him.” I balanced my duffel on my shoulder, pushing open the car door.
“This is Officer Ruiz with the Austin PD. We have a woman in custody, Vivien, who listed you as her emergency contact.”
I stopped mid–motion, gripping the door frame. “What?”
“She was picked up outside a coffee shop after causing a scene. Barista called it in–said she was aggressively confronting a blonde woman, screaming at her.” The officer
hesitated. “She’s requesting that you come down to the station.’
I clenched my jaw so tight I thought my teeth might crack.
“What does she want from me?”
“She’s insisting that you validate her story. That she’s not crazy.”
I scrubbed a hand down my face. “Jesus Christ.”
The drive to the station was a blur of anger and disbelief. I knew Vivien was struggling, but this? It was unhinged. I had a bad feeling in my gut, one that only grew worse when they led me down a hallway toward the holding cells.
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“She’s in here,” the officer said, stopping in front of the cell.
Vivien was pacing. Back and forth, her arms folded tightly over her stomach. Her usually perfect raven hair was a mess, her makeup smudged like she had been crying for hours.
When I stepped inside, she froze. Her red–rimmed eyes snapped to mine, her face crumpling into desperate relief.
“Josh!” She lunged forward, stopping just short of the bars. “Tell them. Tell them I’m not crazy. That we love each other! That we‘ re supposed to be a family!” Her voice cracked, her hands gripping the cold metal.
I exhaled sharply, fighting the heat rising in my chest. “Vivien, what the hell is this?”
Her fingers curled tighter, her whole body shaking. “I worked so hard for us. Don’t you see that?” Her voice grew frantic. “You just have to tell them, Josh! Tell them it’s not made up! That I didn’t make this up!”
A thick silence stretched between us.
“What do you mean, you worked hard?” My voice was low, sharp.
Vivien started pacing again, her breaths erratic.
The officer beside me shifted uncomfortably, just as confused
as I was.
Then Vivien stopped.
She lifted her head, her dark eyes glistening with something unhinged.
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“Don’t you recognize me?” she whispered.
A chill slid down my spine.
“What?”
“I was there.” A breathy laugh escaped her lips. “I was the nurse.”
The world tilted for a second.
No.
No, that wasn’t possible.
“I was there,” she continued, her voice eerily calm now. “Of course, you didn’t see me, but I was always in the background. Listening to you talk to her while I knew she wasn’t really there. She wasn’t coming back to you.”
My stomach lurched. “Vivien… what the fuck are you saying?”
She took a step closer to the bars, a twisted smile on her lips.
“She wasn’t strong enough.” She exhaled shakily, her eyes darting around like she was lost in a memory. “Sure, sure… I gave her a little sedation at the beginning. Just to make sure she didn’t wake up. But that was only once to twice…I think.” She nodded frantically. “Only that one dose almost stopped her breathing, so I didn’t do it again,” Her voice softened, almost dreamy. “But after that… she just stayed asleep on her own.”
My blood turned ice cold.
My hands curled into fists at my sides, rage boiling under my skin.
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“You-” I swallowed hard, my voice like gravel. “You drugged her?”
Vivien’s lips parted, her face slack with realization.
“I heard you,” she whispered, ignoring my question. “I heard you tell your sister you were thinking about moving to Texas. Sol did the research, found the right school, got the job-” She let out a small, breathy laugh. “It was perfect.”
Perfect.
She had stalked me. Manipulated her way into my life. Into my daughter’s life.
She had kept Laura in a coma.
My whole body tensed, every muscle coiling like a live wire. I forced myself to stay still, to not grab the bars and shake them until they rattled.
Vivien smiled like this was some kind of victory. “She never should have woken up.”
I stepped forward, my voice shaking with barely contained fury. “Vivien–look at me.”
She did.
And I let her see every ounce of rage burning in my eyes.
“If I find out you hurt my wife,” I said, my voice deadly quiet, “hear me now–I will make sure you never see the light of day again.”
Vivien’s smile faltered.
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“I do not love you,” I said, stepping even closer. “I will never love you. You were nothing but a distraction–a lie I told myself because I was too fucking broken to face the truth.”
Her chin trembled.
“I love Laura,” I said, my voice razor–sharp. “And nothing you do -nothing you say–will ever change that.”
Then I turned.
And I walked away.
Vivien’s voice cracked behind me, raw and desperate.
“Josh!”
I didn’t stop.
“Josh, please!”
I kept walking.
“We belong together!”
I shoved through the doors, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it might break my ribs.
I needed to get home.
I needed to get to Laura.
