Chương 4
I felt the same cold feeling return.
Not because I was surprised anymore.
Because every answer seemed to open another door.
“Why are you showing me this?”
Margaret looked at Maya.
“Because Julian believes he is protecting this family.”
I waited.
“But he is actually repeating the same mistake his father made.”
I studied her face.
For years, I had thought Margaret Vance was simply arrogant.
A woman born into money who measured people by usefulness.
Now I saw something else beneath it.
Regret.
“You knew about Victoria,” I said.
Her eyes moved away.
“Yes.”
The honesty was almost worse than a lie.
“When?”
“Before the baby was born.”
I swallowed.
“And you said nothing.”
Margaret looked down.
“I told myself I was waiting for Julian to make the right choice.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“That worked out well.”
She accepted the criticism.
That surprised me.
“You are angry.”
“Yes.”
“You should be.”
The answer left me with nothing to fight against.
I had prepared myself for excuses.
I had prepared myself for another person explaining why Julian’s actions were complicated.
But Margaret did not defend him.
She simply looked tired.
“Then why are you here?”
She looked at Maya again.
“Because I have spent my entire life protecting the Vance name.”
She paused.
“And I have watched that protection destroy people.”
The room became quiet.
My daughter slept peacefully between us.
She had no idea that adults were standing around her discussing the damage they had done before she could even say her own name.
“What does my daughter have to do with your company?”
Margaret sat down slowly.
“Your uncle and my husband built a partnership years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because they believed differently.”
I frowned.
“My uncle hated wealthy people.”
A faint smile appeared on Margaret’s face.
“Your uncle hated people who believed wealth made them superior.”
That sounded exactly like him.
“He believed companies should belong to the people who built them, not just the people who inherited them.”
I looked at the documents.
“So what happened?”
“Arthur disagreed.”
The way she said his name told me everything.
Not anger.
Disappointment.
“They started fighting over control.”
“Of the company?”
“Of the future.”
Margaret opened the folder.
Inside was another agreement.
“This document was supposed to protect your uncle’s share if Arthur tried to remove him.”
I scanned the pages.
“Why would my uncle connect this to my child?”
“Because Thomas trusted very few people.”
She looked at me.
“But he trusted you.”
I looked away.
That was harder to hear.
Because my uncle had been gone before I could ask him what he knew.
Before I could tell him about Julian.
Before I could admit that maybe I had ignored warnings because I wanted my marriage to be the exception.
“Where does Julian fit into this?” I asked.
Margaret sighed.
“Julian was raised believing the company was his responsibility.”
“That sounds like something he would say.”
“It is.”
She looked toward the window.
“He was a child when everything happened.”
I softened slightly.
Only slightly.
“He was not a child when he cheated on me.”
“No.”
Her answer was immediate.
“He was not.”
The room went quiet again.
Then Margaret said something I did not expect.
“He has always been afraid of becoming his father.”
I looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“Arthur believed people were valuable when they were useful.”
Her voice lowered.
“Julian hated that.”
“But he became him anyway.”
Margaret did not argue.
“That is what frightens me.”
A knock came at the door.
Sarah returned carrying copies of the documents.
She stopped when she saw Margaret.
The two women looked at each other.
There was history there.
Not friendship.
Not exactly.
Something more complicated.
“You brought it,” Sarah said.
Margaret nodded.
“I thought Elena deserved the truth.”
Sarah placed the copies on the table.
“Then she needs all of it.”
I looked between them.
“What are you not telling me?”
Neither answered immediately.
That silence was becoming something I hated.
People had spent months deciding what I could handle.
They were wrong.
“I just gave birth,” I said.
My voice stayed calm.
“I have been lied to by my husband.”
I looked at Margaret.
“By his family.”
Then at Sarah.
“And apparently by people who were trying to protect me.”
Sarah lowered her eyes.
“You’re right.”
The admission took the air out of my anger.
Because it was easier when everyone else was wrong.
Harder when they knew it.
Sarah opened the copied agreement.
“There is one more thing.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Julian’s son with Victoria is not the reason he refused to acknowledge Maya.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
Sarah looked at the paperwork.
“The timing is.”
I felt my heartbeat change.
“What does that mean?”
“The agreement was written to recognize the first child born from the legal marriage between the Hale and Vance families.”
I blinked.
“Legal marriage?”
Sarah nodded.
“You and Julian.”
I looked at Maya.
“So she is the child mentioned in the agreement.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would Julian reject her?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Margaret spoke.
“Because if Maya is legally recognized, control of certain assets changes.”
I felt something inside me go still.
“He is choosing money.”
Margaret looked uncomfortable.
“He believes he is choosing stability.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“He is choosing himself.”
Nobody corrected me.
That evening, I was discharged from the hospital.
Julian was not there.
He sent a message saying he wanted to talk privately when I was ready.
I read it twice.
Then I deleted the notification.
Not the message.
Not yet.
I wanted the evidence that he had reached out.
I hated that I had started thinking that way.
Before Julian, I was the person who forgot passwords because I never needed backups.
I left receipts in my purse for months.
I trusted people when they said they loved me.
Now I was saving messages.
Making copies.
Watching faces.
May you like
Sarah drove us to my apartment.
The place looked exactly the same.
