Chapter 2 - THE BROTHER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Nobody moved.
Even the wind seemed to disappear.
I stared at Eleanor.
“What baby?”
Her eyes widened.
She realized what she had said.
Julian whispered, “Mom…”
“Shut up.”
I looked at him.
“What baby, Julian?”
He shook his head.
“Chloe, this isn’t the place.”
I laughed once.
It sounded almost hysterical.
“Not the place?”
I pointed around us.
“You let your mother call me a cheating whore in front of three hundred people.”
My voice cracked.
“And now suddenly this isn’t the place?”
Pastor Miller removed a photograph from the envelope.
It showed Liam standing beside a young woman outside a medical clinic.
The woman’s face was partly turned away.
But her pregnancy was obvious.
I looked at Julian.
“Who is she?”
He didn’t answer.
Eleanor did.
“Nobody.”
The pastor shook his head.
“Her name was Rachel Mercer.”
Several older guests murmured.
I saw recognition on their faces.
My mother stepped closer to me.
“Chloe, come away from them.”
But I couldn’t move.
“Who was Rachel?”
Pastor Miller took a breath.
“She was Liam’s girlfriend.”
Eleanor laughed bitterly.
“Girlfriend?”
“She was carrying his child.”
The rooftop erupted again.
Someone dropped a champagne glass.
It shattered.
Eleanor pointed at the pastor.
“You know nothing.”
“I know what Liam told me.”
“He was confused.”
“He was terrified.”
“He was weak.”
“No.”
The pastor’s voice hardened.
“He was trying to protect his family.”
Julian covered his mouth.
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
He nodded.
Barely.
My stomach turned.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
I stepped back as though he had hit me.
“You knew for six months?”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“My mother said—”
“I don’t care what your mother said!”
The baby kicked hard.
I grabbed my stomach.
Mom reached for me.
“Chloe?”
“I’m fine.”
Pastor Miller continued.
“Liam planned to publicly acknowledge Rachel and their unborn child.”
Eleanor’s jaw tightened.
“That would have changed the succession of the Sterling trust.”
I slowly turned to her.
“There it is.”
Her eyes snapped toward me.
“What?”
“This isn’t about morality.”
I pointed at her.
“It’s money.”
Eleanor stared back.
“For people like you, everything looks like money.”
My father stepped between us.
“Lady, you just publicly accused my daughter of adultery.”
Eleanor sneered.
“And perhaps I was wrong.”
“Perhaps?”
I pushed past Dad.
“You knew Julian wasn’t sterile.”
She said nothing.
“You lied because you wanted to destroy me.”
“I wanted this wedding stopped.”
“Why?”
For the first time, fear crossed her face.
Pastor Miller answered.
“Because Chloe’s pregnancy creates a problem.”
I looked at him.
“What kind of problem?”
He pulled another document from the envelope.
A copy of the Sterling family trust.
“When Liam died, Julian became the presumptive controlling heir.”
Julian whispered, “Unless…”
He stopped.
“Unless what?”
The pastor looked at my stomach.
“Unless Liam left a surviving child.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Rachel’s baby.”
He nodded.
I felt dizzy.
“Where are Rachel and the baby?”
Nobody answered.
That was when a deep voice came from the back of the crowd.
“Maybe you should ask Eleanor.”
Everyone turned.
A tall man in a dark suit stood beside the elevator doors.
I had never seen him before.
Eleanor had.
Her face collapsed.
“No.”
The man stepped onto the glass floor.
Julian whispered, “Detective Hayes.”
My pulse jumped.
The detective held up a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a silver watch.
The glass was cracked.
Dark brown stains covered the band.
“Mrs. Sterling,” he said.
“We recovered this yesterday from the bottom of Lake Windham.”
Eleanor took a step back.
Detective Hayes looked directly at her.
“It belonged to your son Liam.”
Then he raised another bag.
May you like
Inside was a tiny digital recorder.
“And this was attached to it.”
