Chapter 5 - JULIAN’S LIE
I thought Eleanor would deny the recording.
Instead, she smiled.
A slow, controlled smile.
“You have no idea what context that came from.”
Rachel stared at her.
“You threatened us.”
“I threatened to disinherit Liam.”
“You said kill.”
“No.”
Detective Hayes stopped the recording.
“Actually, she said ‘doesn’t live long enough.’”
Eleanor glared.
“Semantics.”
Julian exploded.
“SEMANTICS?”
His voice cracked across the rooftop.
“You told me my brother was drunk.”
She turned.
“I protected you.”
“You made me hate him.”
“He was reckless.”
“You made me think he killed himself.”
“I gave you a future.”
Julian’s face twisted.
“You stole my brother.”
Eleanor’s eyes hardened.
“Do not be dramatic.”
He stared at her as though she had become a stranger.
Then he turned to me.
“Chloe.”
I stepped back.
“Don’t.”
“I need you to understand.”
“What part?”
“The part where you let me stand here and believe I cheated on you?”
He flinched.
“I didn’t know she would say that.”
“But you knew she planned to stop the wedding.”
“Yes.”
I laughed bitterly.
“And you still showed up.”
“I thought I could control it.”
“You can’t even control yourself around her.”
The words hurt him.
I saw it.
Good.
He deserved to feel something.
“Why did you tell her you were sterile?”
Julian looked down.
Silence.
“Answer me.”
“It wasn’t my idea.”
“Whose idea?”
He looked toward Eleanor.
Of course.
I closed my eyes.
“How long ago?”
“Four months.”
Four months.
That meant before my anatomy scan.
Before we picked baby names.
Before he kissed my belly and told our child he couldn’t wait to meet them.
“You looked me in the eyes every day.”
“I never told you I was sterile.”
“You let her believe it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Julian started crying again.
“Because she found out I had fertility testing after Liam died.”
I frowned.
“Why did you get tested?”
He hesitated.
Then Rachel whispered, “Because of the trust.”
Julian nodded.
I stared at him.
“The money.”
“My mother said the board needed certainty about succession.”
My chest burned.
“You took a fertility test for an inheritance.”
“It’s more complicated.”
“It always is with rich people.”
He winced.
“The results were normal.”
“Then why lie?”
“Because when you got pregnant, she panicked.”
“Why?”
Julian looked at Rachel’s child.
“Because two potential heirs would weaken her control.”
I suddenly understood.
If Rachel’s son was Liam’s child, he had priority.
If something happened to him, my child could become next.
Eleanor had spent years controlling succession.
Now two babies stood between her and the fortune.
I turned toward Detective Hayes.
“Am I in danger?”
The detective looked at me carefully.
“We’re taking precautions.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“It isn’t.”
My mother grabbed my hand.
“We’re leaving.”
I nodded.
Then Eleanor laughed behind us.
“Go.”
I turned.
Her eyes were empty.
“Take your little bastard and go.”
Julian shouted.
“STOP CALLING MY CHILD THAT.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
She tilted her head.
“Chloe’s baby isn’t yours.”
Julian stared.
I almost screamed.
“We just established that you lied!”
“I lied about his fertility.”
She smiled.
“Not about the child.”
My heart stopped.
Pastor Miller whispered, “Eleanor…”
She looked at me.
“Tell them, Chloe.”
“Tell them what?”
“Tell them where you were the night of December eighteenth.”
My mind raced.
December eighteenth.
Six months earlier.
The Sterling Foundation Christmas gala.
I had left early after feeling sick.
Julian had stayed.
I remembered a car.
Rain.
Someone helping me into the passenger seat.
Then nothing.
A strange blank.
I looked at Julian.
His face had gone white.
“Chloe?”
I touched my temple.
“What happened that night?”
May you like
Eleanor’s smile widened.
“You really don’t remember.”
