Page 11 of The Call She Made That He Never Answered
Until the doors opened again and Vivian appeared. Everything changed.
Vivian was breathtaking. Every eye turned. I felt Lucas's body go rigid. Then he did something that still chills me. He pulled his arm from mine.
I looked up, confused, and saw Lucas focused like never before.
Then he walked straight toward her.
He'd forgotten me entirely.
The women around me stopped hiding their voices.
That's how I learned Lucas and Vivian's history. She'd been his college girlfriend. She'd returned to Manhattan specifically to join Rockefeller Group.
Watching Lucas's retreating back, abandonment flooded through me. How could he leave me alone? Didn't he know I'd never been to events like this? That I'd practiced holding a wine glass for days?
I told myself: Don't be scared, Ella. Lucas is just greeting a new colleague. Just catch up to him. He's a man of principle. He promised Grandfather he'd take care of me.
I pushed through the crowd in heels high enough to snap my ankles. My heart hammered. Sweat slicked my palms. When I finally reached Lucas's side, that familiar safety returned.
Vivian's gaze landed on me like everyone else's. Embarrassed, I extended my hand out of basic courtesy. "Hello, I'm Ella. Lucas's wife."
Vivian raised an eyebrow. She touched two fingers to mine briefly, then immediately withdrew.
I froze.
"I've heard about you," she said in an odd tone. "Lucas's... pragmatic choice."
Pragmatic choice?
The phrase sounded strange. Was she complimenting me? Or...
But her smile unsettled me. Too perfect. So perfect I couldn't read any genuine emotion. I searched her eyes for kindness or friendliness. Nothing.
Humiliation rose inside me.
I looked to Lucas for help, hoping he'd say something—even just introduce me properly. But he only glanced at me coldly, eyes full of irritation at being interrupted.
Then he turned back to Vivian with a cheerfulness I'd never heard. "Vivian, on behalf of Rockefeller Group, welcome back."
His joy was naked. Vivian smiled and embraced him, their cheeks touching. Her slender hands settled on his arm—the position that had been mine minutes before.
I stood frozen as the society women's earlier whispers echoed in my head:
"If Vivian hadn't gone abroad to study, how would a caregiver ever have gotten in?"
"The real Mrs. Rockefeller was always Vivian. Only Vivian."
I shrank into a corner, watching Lucas and Vivian move through the crowd with effortless grace. The phrase kept surfacing: a match made in heaven. The chemistry between Vivian and Lucas was something Lucas and I had never shared. To preserve my last shred of dignity, I forced myself to stay until the end.
Three hours. He never looked back.
Not once.
When I finally walked to the entrance on stiff legs, Lucas was opening a car door for Vivian. He noticed me approach. The smile vanished.
"I still have work details to discuss with Vivian. Go home yourself."
"But Lucas, it's past midnight..." I wasn't trying to cause trouble, but I'd dressed lightly for the gala. I was freezing.
