Chapter 7 - THE REPUTATION CONSULTANT
The consultant’s name was Simon Graves.
Crisis communications.
Corporate.
Political.
Family offices.
Expensive.
He did not know about the shove.
He did not know about scripted dinner lines.
At least his records supported that.
Vivienne hired him to prepare:
“reputational contingency planning in event of marital dispute involving high-profile family.”
Gideon was not a celebrity.
But his company did public developments.
Local press knew the Sutton name.
What did Simon receive?
A packet.
My biography.
Business records.
Photographs.
Selected video clips.
The edited ones.
Screenshots of supposed Gideon messages.
Draft claims:
Maris married upward rapidly.
Maris pressured Gideon to transfer residence ownership.
Maris has attempted to isolate Gideon from family.
Maris becomes volatile when questioned.
Maris may use pregnancy and child access in financial negotiation.
All framed as allegations.
Simon responded:
Need independent verification before any external use.
Good.
Vivienne wrote:
Treat as verified family facts.
He refused.
Contract paused.
No public campaign launched.
Important.
No smear articles.
No media leak.
Just preparation.
Then Simon testified in civil discovery:
“Mrs. Sutton repeatedly asked how to protect Gideon if Maris made abuse allegations.”
“Before any abuse allegation existed?”
“Yes.”
“How far before dinner?”
Five weeks.
That chilled me.
Vivienne anticipated that if she provoked me and I later told the truth, she could call it strategic.
Then one email:
VIVIENNE:
Pregnancy makes her sympathetic. Timing matters.
SIMON:
Timing for what?
No reply.
Another:
VIVIENNE:
Once the baby is safely here, public perception changes.
There.
Again.
After birth.
Not because baby would be taken automatically.
Because a pregnant woman being bullied looks terrible.
A postpartum divorce could be framed as unfortunate but ordinary.
Vivienne thought optics.
Then Simon’s invoice:
$12,000 retainer.
Refunded $7,000 after he withdrew.
No conspiracy.
Professional saw red flags.
Stopped.
Good.
Then my own company.
I owned a small but successful interior-design studio specializing in hospitality.
Revenue:
about $2.4 million annually.
Not charity.
Vivienne knew.
Why keep saying charity case?
Class.
Control.
And something else.
My company had designed three Sutton properties before Gideon and I dated.
We met professionally.
I had once sued one of his subcontractors for unpaid design invoices.
I won.
Gideon respected it.
Vivienne hated the story.
She preferred:
He rescued her.
Because if I had arrived competent and solvent, she could not narrate me as dependent.
Then Elena found a proposed financial schedule inside the postnup.
It listed:
Suggested relocation payment to Maris upon separation:
$750,000.
No basis.
Not Gideon’s instruction.
Vivienne’s number.
My current share of Sutton House, based on appraisal, was worth far more.
Plus ordinary marital claims.
So the quitclaim + relocation payment was not neutral.
It would move valuable house interest back to Gideon’s sole ownership in exchange for a lower cash package.
Had I signed, could it be enforceable?
Highly questionable.
No independent counsel.
Pregnancy.
Misrepresentation.
Potential coercion.
But litigation would be expensive.
Vivienne understood that.
She did not need perfect enforceability.
She needed paper.
Then Laurel said:
“Mom called it cleaning the marriage before the baby.”
Cleaning.
My stomach turned.
Elena asked:
“What did that mean?”
Laurel:
“Separate the house from the marriage. Set family access expectations. Make sure if they divorced, Maris couldn’t use the baby to stay.”
There.
Not secret custody.
Not stolen company.
A campaign to strip my bargaining position before postpartum vulnerability.
Then another clue.
Vivienne had asked a private investigator to run a background check on me.
Legal if done properly.
He found nothing scandalous.
Old traffic ticket.
Business dispute.
Student loan history.
One ex-boyfriend.
No affair.
No criminal issue.
Vivienne asked:
“What about mental health?”
Investigator said:
Not accessible without lawful basis.
She canceled.
Each safeguard had frustrated her.
So she built a narrative herself.
Then the older sister’s phone produced one text that made Gideon leave the room again.
Vivienne:
If Maris signs before he gets back, Gideon never needs to know how ugly it got.
Laurel:
Then how does he approve it?
Vivienne:
He’ll approve the result.
May you like
There.
Vivienne had never intended to ask her son first.
