Vivian did not make a scene immediately. She simply asked Claire to walk with her toward the quiet side of the lawn, near the drinks table. Her tone stayed pleasant, but Claire could feel the questions beneath it. “Can you prove it?” Vivian asked. Claire had expected that.
She opened her phone and showed the email chain from Nina’s agency, the project brief, the draft files, and the final Northstar proposal saved under her name. She showed timestamps from nights when Darren had been asleep beside her while she worked in the blue light of the kitchen. Vivian’s jaw tightened slightly.
“This is the same proposal Darren presented internally last week,” Vivian said. Claire’s stomach dipped, though she had suspected it. “He presented it?” “As part of his team’s recovery plan,” Vivian said. “He implied he had shaped it.” Claire looked across the lawn. Darren caught her eye and gave her a warning look, as if she was embarrassing him by speaking too long to his boss. Claire turned back to Vivian. “He didn’t shape it,” she said. “He didn’t even know it existed until I submitted it to someone in his team.”