Chương 6
Whether I trusted outside advisors.
Whether I had ever changed legal documents after marriage.
I stopped reading.
The room felt colder.
"She wasn't planning a wedding."
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
"She was planning access."
"Yes."
I closed the folder.
"Why didn't you send this to me?"
His face tightened.
"Because I wasn't ready to admit what I had done."
That answer was painfully human.
And painfully selfish.
"You let me walk into that room."
"I know."
"You watched me almost marry her."
"I know."
His voice cracked slightly.
"I know, Julian."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
I wanted to hate him.
It would have been easier.
But anger became complicated when the person in front of you was also someone who had once helped you build your life.
"You need to give me everything."
He nodded.
"All messages."
"Yes."
"All documents."
"Yes."
"Everything you have."
He looked at me.
"Are you going to destroy her?"
The question surprised me.
I expected guilt.
I expected excuses.
I did not expect fear.
"No."
He studied my face.
"Then what?"
I thought about Victoria downstairs.
The guests.
The humiliation.
The money.
The betrayal.
Then I thought about Leo.
"I am going to protect my son."
Ethan nodded slowly.
That answer seemed to matter to him.
Maybe because he understood that I was no longer fighting for revenge.
I was fighting for something that could not fight for itself.
My phone rang.
David.
I answered.
"We have a problem."
His voice immediately changed my focus.
"What happened?"
"Your office system was accessed."
I stood.
"When?"
"Three weeks ago."
The same time the documents changed.
"By who?"
"We are still tracing it."
"David."
"I know."
His voice became quieter.
"But there is something else."
I waited.
"The person who accessed the files used credentials from someone inside Sterling."
My stomach tightened.
"Who?"
A pause.
Then:
"Your executive assistant."
I closed my eyes.
"No."
"I know you trust her."
"I do."
"Then we need to find out why."
I ended the call and looked at Ethan.
He already understood.
"Someone else is involved."
I nodded.
The betrayal was spreading.
Not because everyone around me was corrupt.
That would have been easier.
It was worse when some people were good.
Because then every relationship became a question.
Every conversation became something to examine.
I left Ethan's office with the folder under my arm.
Before I reached the elevator, he called my name.
I stopped.
"Julian."
I looked back.
"I am sorry."
The words were simple.
Maybe too simple.
But they were the first honest words I had heard from him in years.
I nodded once.
Then I left.
The drive back to the estate felt longer than usual.
My phone continued filling with messages.
I finally checked them.
Most were from friends asking if I was okay.
A few were from people asking what happened.
One was from my mother.
I read it three times.
I love you.
I don't understand what happened.
But I know you.
Call me when you are ready.
I pulled into the driveway and sat there for a while.
The house looked exactly the same.
That bothered me.
The world had changed.
The building had not.
Inside, Teresa was sitting in the living room with Leo asleep against her chest.
She looked up.
"Did you find answers?"
I placed the folder on the table.
"I found more questions."
She nodded.
That was probably the most honest answer.
I picked up Leo carefully.
He barely woke.
His hand grabbed my shirt.
I carried him upstairs.
His room was filled with things I had chosen without thinking.
A small wooden bookshelf.
A stuffed animal collection.
A nightlight shaped like a moon.
Normal things.
Family things.
Things I almost shared with someone who did not value them.
After putting him down, I stood there longer than I should have.
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message.
This time, not from an unknown number.
From Victoria.
I almost ignored it.
Then I saw the preview.
I know you think you know the truth.
I opened it.
There was another message beneath it.
But before I could read it, the typing bubble appeared.
For several seconds, nothing came.
Then the final message arrived.
There is something about Leo that you never asked me about.
I stared at the message until the screen dimmed.
Then I unlocked my phone and read it again.
There is something about Leo that you never asked me about.
The first feeling was anger.
The second was fear.
The third was the one I hated most.
Doubt.
Not doubt about Leo.
Never that.
But doubt about the years before him.
About everything Victoria had told me.
About every conversation I had accepted because I loved her.
I called her.
She answered before the first ring finished.
"Julian."
Her voice sounded tired.
Not guilty.
Tired.
"What are you talking about?"
A pause.
Long enough to tell me she had expected the question.
"I knew you would ask that."
"Then answer."
"Not over the phone."
I walked toward the hallway.
"Victoria."
"Julian, listen to me."
"No."
My voice came out harder than I intended.
"You don't get to tell me to listen anymore."
Silence.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she said quietly, "You think you know what happened."
"I know you were planning to marry me for access to my money."
Her breathing changed.
Barely.
But I heard it.
"I made mistakes."
"That is what you call this?"
"No."
She stopped.
"I call it desperation."
I leaned against the wall.
The house was silent except for the faint sound of the heating system.
Normal sounds.
Safe sounds.
Except nothing felt safe anymore.
"Explain Leo."
Another pause.
This one was different.
Not hesitation.
Pain.
"I should have told you earlier."
My grip tightened around the phone.
"Told me what?"
"About his mother."
My chest tightened.
I looked toward the stairs.
May you like
Leo was sleeping upstairs.
His entire life had become the one thing I refused to let anyone damage.
