Chapter 15: Grant Pierce, Gone for Good

Vivian stood frozen, her mind blank.

What did he mean, the game's over?

Master Voss wasn't the type to linger. He was already turning to go.

Vivian rushed after him, forcing a smile. "Master Voss I don't understand. What game?"

He adjusted his hat, stroked his beard, and answered flatly. "Since you clearly need it spelled out, my final student finally accepted me as her teacher, just a couple of days ago. She's the one who asked me to come here tonight for a free meal. That's the whole story."

What?

Vivian genuinely wondered if she'd misheard him.

Master Voss was a towering name in the art world, his reputation without rival. Three years ago, after more than a decade without taking on a single student, he'd announced he'd accept one final student and then nothing. Three years of silence.

Vivian had assumed, without question, that there was no one else in contention. That the position was simply waiting for her to claim it. She'd been certain of it even before she picked up his call tonight.

The reality was unbearable. "You only agreed to meet me to humiliate me? You were never actually going to take me on?"

Master Voss had a reputation for being difficult, and Vivian's tone did nothing to soften him. "Do you think I take on just anyone who asks? I don't say this to be cruel, Ms. Ashford, but your technique isn't fit to stand next to my current student's smallest sketch. If she hadn't personally asked me to come meet you tonight, I wouldn't have bothered showing up at all."

Vivian's fury boiled over. Grant, sensing the moment slipping sideways, stepped in and blocked the older man's path. "Master Voss take Vivian on as your student, and I'll personally fund your next exhibition. A hundred million, no conditions."

Voss studied him for a long moment, then laughed outright. "Mr. Pierce, I do value talent. Money isn't talent. You could hand me every asset you own, and I still wouldn't be interested."

He looked Grant over, unimpressed, shaking his head slowly.

"Tsk. Not even close," he muttered to himself. "Not one hair's worth of it."

With that, he turned and walked out, disgust plain on his face.

The moment he was gone, Vivian collapsed into tears. "Grant, what am I supposed to do now? Please think of something. This was everything to me. You promised you'd make this happen."

Grant felt the ground shift under his own confidence. He'd been so certain this was already settled before he'd even taken the call. He hadn't planned for this outcome at all.

Unable to bear the sight of her crying, he brushed the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. "I will never break a promise to you, Vivian. Whatever it costs, I'll make this right."

She lifted her chin, eyes glassy and wounded in a way that pulled at something in his chest.

She pressed herself into his arms, wrapping herself around his waist, face buried against him. "Grant. You're the only person in this world who's ever really taken care of me. If I hadn't married Julian, do you think we might have"

He cut her off before she could finish. "Vivian, there's no version of that. I married Nora. I intend to see that through, for the rest of her life. And she's carrying my child."

This child. The one he'd nearly given up hoping for entirely. He loved Vivian that had never wavered but something in him had already started making room for the idea of fatherhood, quietly, without his permission.

The thought of finally becoming a father softened something in his chest he hadn't expected.

That, however, was not the future Vivian had any intention of allowing.

In her mind, Grant existed to orbit her completely a loyal, obedient presence with no independent will of his own. The idea of him developing feelings for someone else, caring about someone else's child, wasn't something she was prepared to tolerate.

Every ounce of his devotion belonged to her. That wasn't negotiable.

Something dark moved behind her eyes at the thought of the child growing in Nora's body.

That thing shouldn't exist at all.

A moment later, she pressed her fingers to her temples, wincing, and sagged against him. "I really thought today would be the day, Grant. I wanted to surprise myself with good news. I'm so upset right now I can barely think straight."

Grant's heart ached for her. He reached up again, wiping at fresh tears.

Emboldened, whether by grief or the wine, Vivian tilted up and kissed him. He froze, caught completely off guard.

Whether it was the alcohol or something else entirely, he found he couldn't quite bring himself to pull away.

Their mouths met, breath quickening between them, and Vivian looped her arms around his neck, gaze soft and pleading. "Grant. How much do you love me? Really?"

His breathing turned unsteady as the words left him. "I would give up my life for you. I mean that."

He'd known exactly how he felt about her since they were children in that orphanage together.

So why, saying those words out loud, did another face flash unbidden through his mind?

---

Back at the club, once Nora reached the private room, she quietly asked everyone Grant had invited for her birthday to leave.

He isn't coming tonight. There's no point pretending otherwise.

The room emptied out fast, leaving her completely alone in the cavernous space.

She sat in the corner, still and quiet, blending into the dark like she'd simply stopped existing.

As the minutes stretched on, whatever color had been left in her face drained away entirely.

Next to Vivian, I was never anything more than background noise. This whole marriage, it was never really a story about two people. It was always just her show, and I happened to be standing in it.

She hadn't left only because she wanted to see this farce all the way through to give it the ugly, honest ending it actually deserved.

After a long while, she heard the clock somewhere below strike midnight, and something in her face shifted into a small, faint smile.

Pale. Hollow. Worn thin.

Her voice, when it came, carried the weight of everything she'd swallowed over the last three years.

It's strange, how completely a person can come undone in a single night.

"Happy birthday, Nora," she murmured to herself.

Three years of marriage. Over.

Whatever we were to each other over too.

Goodbye, Grant Pierce. For good, this time.

Something bitter settled behind her ribs. She pressed her lips together, rose, and walked out.

---

The night outside was still and cold. Nora made her way along the riverbank, letting the wind cut through her, though it did nothing to clear the fog behind her eyes.

She walked without any real direction, until the sky across the water lit up in brilliant blue fireworks, bright enough that she could hear the crowd around her gasping in delight.

"Oh my god, blue fireworks! Someone's proposing over there!"

"There's a livestream going, the woman is gorgeous. Does anyone know who she is? I'm so jealous."

"No idea who she is, but the comments are saying it's her birthday tonight. This isn't just fireworks, this is a whole love story."

"They're kissing! Look at them, they're perfect together!"

Nora stood at the edge of the crowd, listening to the fireworks crackle overhead, a faint, distant smile settling on her face.

How lovely for them.

That kind of love really is something to envy.

Just as she turned to head back, her phone rang the tone she'd set specifically for Grant.

She answered. Her mouth went tight the instant she heard the voice on the other end.

"Nora. Did you see the blue fireworks? Grant's celebrating my birthday with me. We're close enough to your club, I know you can hear it from there."

"He won't be coming home tonight, by the way. He's mine for the whole night. Enjoy the rest of yours alone."

The fireworks kept blooming across the water, and Nora's hand trembled as she listened to the crowd's delighted noise, her nails biting into her palm.

She stared out across the river, face pale and unreadable, but her voice came out perfectly steady. "If you want him that badly, Vivian, he's yours."

Vivian faltered. "What... what do you mean?"

Nora's expression didn't change. "I mean exactly what I said. I'm giving Grant Pierce to you. Free of charge. Consider it a gift."

She hung up without waiting for a response.

A moment later, she was already dialing again. "Miles. I need a ride. I'm heading to the airport.”