Chapter 4 - The ReturnI returned to the Whitmore house that evening.
Not because Victoria ordered me to.
Because I wanted answers.
Catherine insisted on coming with me, but I refused.
“This is my battle.”
“No,” she said.
“It started as your father’s battle.”
I looked at her.
“And now it’s mine.”
She reluctantly handed me a small recording device.
“Keep this on.”
I slipped it into my coat.
When I entered the house, the atmosphere had changed.
The warmth was gone.
The smiling family from yesterday’s wedding photographs had vanished.
Julian stood in the living room.
Victoria sat beside a lawyer.
A second man stood near the fireplace.
I recognized him.
Stephen Vale.
My father’s former attorney.
My stomach tightened.
“You invited him?”
Victoria smiled.
“We thought you might finally behave like an adult.”
I sat down.
“Let’s talk.”
Julian stared at me.
“You embarrassed me today.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You embarrassed yourself.”
His face darkened.
Victoria raised a hand.
“Enough.”
The lawyer pushed a document toward me.
“This is a settlement.”
I did not touch it.
“What settlement?”
“An agreement concerning the dissolution of your marriage.”
I almost laughed.
“You want a divorce?”
Julian leaned forward.
“I want peace.”
“You want my company.”
His expression froze.
Victoria’s eyes sharpened.
Stephen Vale cleared his throat.
“That is a very serious accusation.”
“So is fraud.”
Silence.
I smiled.
For the first time, Victoria looked uncertain.
Julian stood.
“Elena, you don’t understand the business.”
“I understand enough.”
He walked toward me.
“You’re being manipulated.”
“By whom?”
“Your family.”
“My father is dead.”
Julian stopped.
“I know.”
His answer came too quickly.
I looked at him.
“Exactly.”
I pressed the recorder hidden beneath my coat.
“Then tell me why he met you.”
Julian went pale.
Victoria stood abruptly.
“Who told you that?”
There it was.
Fear.
Real fear.
I leaned back.
“Interesting.”
Victoria recovered.
“Your father was unstable near the end.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Stephen Vale intervened.
“Your father was dealing with severe financial stress.”
“My father built a company worth hundreds of millions.”
“And nearly lost it.”
I stared at him.
“That’s not what the records say.”
He smiled thinly.
“Records can be manipulated.”
“So can signatures.”
Julian suddenly slammed his hand on the table.
“Enough!”
The room went silent.
His chest rose and fell.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
“You really think you have power here?”
I looked at him.
“I know I do.”
He came closer.
“You have no idea what you married into.”
“No,” I said.
“I think I’m finally beginning to understand.”
Victoria stepped between us.
“Julian.”
Then she turned to me.
“You wanted the truth?”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“Your father knew Julian before you did.”
I felt my blood run cold.
“Explain.”
“Your father introduced you to him.”
I froze.
“That’s not true.”
Victoria tilted her head.
“You never wondered why Julian suddenly appeared in your life?”
I did.
For the first time, a terrifying possibility surfaced.
Maybe Julian had not found me.
Maybe my father had led him to me.
And maybe there had been a reason.
Victoria leaned closer.
“Ask yourself one question, Elena.”
May you like
She smiled.
“Why did your father choose Julian?”
