Chapter 4 - THE PRICE OF SILENCE
I had never liked Eleanor Foster.
She had never liked me either.
From the day Julian introduced us, she made it clear that I was not the woman she had imagined for her son.
My family was comfortable but ordinary.
My father taught history at a community college.
My mother ran a small flower shop.
Eleanor came from old money.
She believed marriage was a business arrangement.
Love was acceptable only when it did not interfere with reputation.
Now she stood in front of me, staring at my unborn children as though they were company assets.
Julian’s expression darkened.
“Get back in your car.”
Eleanor glanced at him.
“You look exhausted.”
“You were not invited.”
“You stopped answering my calls.”
“That should have told you something.”
Her attention returned to me.
“I assume you are planning to demand money.”
I almost smiled.
“You have not changed.”
“No.”
Eleanor adjusted one glove.
“I have simply learned not to trust emotional women.”
Julian stepped closer to her.
“Enough.”
She looked at him coldly.
“You hired a private investigator.”
“Did you really think I would not find out?”
“That does not give you the right to come here.”
“I am protecting the Foster family.”
“From my wife?”
“From scandal.”
The word hung between us.
I felt the old anger return.
To Eleanor, my pain was not real.
It was only inconvenient.
I looked at Julian.
“Did you tell her I was pregnant?”
“No.”
“Then how did she know?”
Julian turned toward his mother.
Eleanor remained silent.
He understood.
“You had me followed.”
“I had the investigator followed.”
Julian laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You are unbelievable.”
“I am practical.”
She removed an envelope from her handbag.
“This is also practical.”
She offered it to me.
I did not take it.
“What is it?”
“A confidentiality agreement.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“Mother.”
Eleanor continued speaking.
“You will receive five million dollars.”
“You will remain outside Illinois.”
“You will not speak publicly about Julian, Madison Carter, or your marriage.”
“And after the children are born, paternity will be established.”
“If they are Julian’s, the family will arrange appropriate custody.”
I stared at her.
“Appropriate custody?”
“The children should be raised with every advantage.”
“They will be raised by me.”
Eleanor’s smile disappeared.
“You are living in a roadside hotel.”
“I work here.”
“That is not better.”
Julian took the envelope from her hand and tore it in half.
Then he tore it again.
The pieces fell onto the pavement.
“I said leave.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You are allowing guilt to make you foolish.”
“No.”
“I allowed you to make me foolish for most of my life.”
Her expression changed slightly.
Julian continued.
“You taught me that providing money was the same as showing love.”
“You taught me that apologies were weakness.”
“You taught me to care more about how my marriage looked than how my wife felt.”
Eleanor’s jaw tightened.
“Do not blame me for your affair.”
“It was not an affair,” Julian said.
I flinched at the distinction.
He noticed.
Then he looked at me.
“But the betrayal was mine.”
Eleanor glanced between us.
“So you intend to humiliate yourself for a woman who ran away?”
Julian’s voice became quiet.
“I intend to take responsibility for what I did.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“You are the chief executive of a global company.”
“You cannot spend months begging someone who refuses to behave rationally.”
I laughed softly.
Both of them looked at me.
“Rationally?”
I placed one hand over my stomach.
“I found my husband kissing his assistant.”
“I left instead of creating a public scandal.”
“I took none of his money.”
“I told no reporter.”
“I asked my family to stay silent.”
“And you still came here with a contract and a check because you are terrified I might embarrass you.”
Eleanor’s eyes became hard.
“You are carrying Foster heirs.”
“I am carrying my children.”
“They are both,” Julian said.
I looked at him.
He did not look away.
Eleanor exhaled slowly.
“This conversation is not finished.”
“It is finished,” Julian said.
She returned to her car.
Before getting inside, she looked at me one final time.
“You may think you can disappear again.”
“But once those children are born, there will be courts.”
“There will be lawyers.”
“There will be consequences.”
The sedan drove away.
I stood frozen.
Julian turned toward me.
“She will not touch you.”
“You cannot promise that.”
“I can protect you.”
“That is exactly what frightens me.”
His face fell.
I wrapped my arms around myself.
“You come from a family that believes everything can be bought.”
“I do not.”
“You did.”
He had no answer.
I returned inside the hotel.
Julian followed me only as far as the lobby.
Hannah stepped between us.
“You need to go.”
Julian looked at me.
“I will stay in Albany.”
“No.”
“I will not come here again unless you ask.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because my mother threatened you.”
“I need to make sure she does not act.”
I wanted to tell him to leave the state.
I wanted to tell him I never wanted to see him again.
But Eleanor’s threat had frightened me.
Julian saw it.
“I will not file for custody.”
“How can I believe you?”
He removed his phone.
He called someone and placed the call on speaker.
A man answered.
“Mr. Foster.”
“David, withdraw every document related to potential custody proceedings involving Audrey.”
There was a pause.
“We have not filed anything.”
“Then prepare a written agreement stating that I will not seek primary custody unless the children are in danger.”
The attorney hesitated.
“Julian, that could be difficult to reverse.”
“I know.”
“You should consider—”
“Do it.”
He ended the call.
I stared at him.
“You already discussed custody with a lawyer.”
“I discussed every possibility after I learned about the pregnancy.”
“That includes taking my children.”
“No.”
“It included protecting my rights.”
“Those are the same words men use before they destroy women in court.”
Julian’s face tightened with shame.
“You are right.”
He kept saying that.
Each time, it made it harder to hate him.
“I am leaving now,” he said.
“I will send the agreement to Hannah.”
“You can read it with your own lawyer.”
“I do not want anything from you except the chance to know them.”
He turned toward the door.
Then he stopped.
“Did you name them?”
“They are not born yet.”
“But you have names.”
I hesitated.
“Elliot and Noah.”
Julian closed his eyes.
He repeated them softly.
“Elliot and Noah.”
Then he left.
That evening, Hannah locked the front doors early.
She checked every hallway twice.
“You think Eleanor will come back?” I asked.
“I think rich people become dangerous when they hear the word no.”
At eleven that night, the hotel fire alarm began screaming.
Guests rushed into the hallways.
Smoke drifted beneath the door of the office downstairs.
Hannah ran toward the staircase.
I followed until pain suddenly tightened across my abdomen.
I stopped.
My hand gripped the railing.
“Audrey?”
“I’m fine.”
Then a second wave of pain struck.
This one was sharper.
I looked down.
Blood stained the front of my pale pajamas.
Hannah’s face turned white.
“Oh my God.”
She caught me before my knees hit the floor.
Outside, sirens approached.
Inside, I clung to her arm.
“My babies.”
At that exact moment, Julian’s car pulled into the parking lot.
He saw the smoke.
May you like
He saw the fire trucks.
Then he saw Hannah carrying me toward the entrance with blood running down my legs.
