Chapter 2 - THE NIGHT THEY WERE BORN
Victoria laughed.
It was the wrong kind of laugh.
Thin. Breathless. Fake.
“Of course I was at the hospital. I gave birth to them.”
Noah shook his head.
“No.”
Julian stared at his son.
“Noah, what do you mean?”
The boy pointed again.
“She was there before Mommy.”
Nobody moved.
Victoria’s voice turned sharp.
“That is enough.”
She reached for Noah.
He recoiled so fast he nearly fell.
Elena caught him.
Victoria slapped Elena’s hand away.
Julian stood.
“Do that again and you’re leaving.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You’re defending the maid now?”
“I’m defending my son.”
“I am their mother.”
“Then why are they afraid of you?”
That landed hard.
Victoria’s mouth opened, but no words came.
Julian looked toward Elena.
“Tell me about the song.”
Elena hesitated.
“I don’t know where I learned it.”
Victoria scoffed.
“How convenient.”
Elena ignored her.
“I’ve known it as long as I can remember.”
Julian frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“When did you first remember it?”
Elena touched her temple.
“After my accident.”
“What accident?”
“Four years ago.”
Victoria turned away.
Julian noticed.
“Elena.”
“I woke up in a hospital outside Newark. No ID. No phone. Nothing.”
Julian’s skin prickled.
“They said I’d been hit by a car.”
“When?”
“November seventeenth.”
His stomach dropped.
The twins’ birthday.
Claire’s death date.
Victoria interrupted.
“Julian, this is ridiculous. She probably researched us.”
Elena looked offended.
“I didn’t even know who Mr. Sterling was when the agency sent me here.”
“Everyone knows who he is.”
“I don’t watch business news.”
Julian walked closer.
“You had no memory?”
“Pieces.”
“Of what?”
Elena looked at the twins.
“A bright room.”
Julian said nothing.
“A woman crying.”
Victoria’s fingers tightened around her phone.
Elena continued.
“And someone saying, ‘Take the babies.’”
Julian felt his chest constrict.
Victoria snapped, “Stop.”
Elena flinched.
Julian looked at his wife.
“Why?”
“Because this is sick.”
“No. Why are you so scared?”
“I’m not scared.”
“You’re shaking.”
Victoria hid her hands.
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
He had built an empire by noticing details other people missed.
Tiny inconsistencies.
Micro-expressions.
A pause half a second too long.
Victoria was lying.
He had no doubt now.
He took out his phone.
“I’m calling St. Matthew’s.”
Victoria grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
Julian stared at her hand.
She slowly let go.
“Why not?”
“The records were sealed.”
“By whom?”
She didn’t answer.
Julian’s voice turned cold.
“By whom, Victoria?”
Her face hardened.
“My father.”
Julian blinked.
Senator Richard Vale.
Victoria’s father.
One of the most powerful men in New York.
“Why would your father seal hospital records from the night our children were born?”
Victoria looked at him.
For one second, he saw something raw in her expression.
Not anger.
Terror.
Then the elevator bell rang.
Everyone turned.
The doors opened.
A gray-haired man in a dark suit stepped out.
Senator Richard Vale.
Victoria whispered, “Dad?”
Vale looked at Julian.
Then at Elena.
His face went white.
He dropped the folder in his hand.
Papers scattered across the floor.
May you like
And he whispered a name Elena had never told anyone.
“Claire.”
