Chapter 7 - OWEN LEARNED HIS MOTHER HAD KNOWN ABOUT ME BEFORE OUR FIRST DATEThis hurt him almost as much as Lily’s abuse.
He searched old messages.
Vivian had texted him after our second date:
Ava Rowan? Interesting choice.
At the time, he thought she meant class.
Now he saw something else.
Then after our engagement:
Before you make this permanent, you should understand her family history.
Owen replied:
I know enough. She’s not applying for a security clearance.
Vivian:
One day you’ll wish you asked better questions.
She knew.
She could have told him.
Instead, she used the secret as private leverage.
Why?
Because if Owen knew I was Franklin Wexler’s daughter, the old Harbor Point arrangement could surface sooner.
And Vivian wanted control over timing.
She wanted Owen to choose Camille without ever learning why that match was so dangerous and absurd.
Did she know Camille and I were definitely half-sisters?
That remained uncertain.
She knew Franklin and Elise had an affair around my conception.
She knew paternity had never been publicly established then.
She may have believed Franklin was not my father.
But she knew enough that pushing Owen toward Camille was reckless.
Owen confronted her only through counsel.
Question:
When did you first suspect Ava was Franklin Wexler’s biological daughter?
Vivian’s answer:
1995.
Question:
When did you learn DNA testing had confirmed it?
Answer:
Approximately eighteen months ago.
The same time Franklin confirmed privately.
So yes.
For eighteen months, Vivian knew.
Yet she continued invoking Camille as the better wife.
Not because she literally expected Owen and Camille to marry immediately.
Because the comparison humiliated me.
May you like
It reminded me there was an approved woman and an unapproved one.
Cruelty with pedigree.
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