Chương 7
Maybe because he did not use it to escape.
He used it because he meant it.
“I’m scared,” I admitted.
He did not rush to reassure me.
That was what I appreciated.
“Of what?”
“Of going back.”
“To Julian?”
“To that life.”
I looked at my hands.
“I don’t know who I am without being his wife.”
Arthur leaned forward.
“You were Clarissa before Julian.”
“I was also the person who ran away from everyone.”
“Yes.”
His answer was immediate.
“But you were also the person who built a life with nothing but your own choices.”
I looked at him.
“I don’t know what happens next.”
“Neither do I.”
That honesty made me breathe easier.
“But we’ll find out.”
My phone buzzed again.
Both of us looked at it.
Another unknown number.
Another message.
This time there was no document.
Only a sentence.
Ask Julian why he never told you about the woman who signed his first acquisition contract.
I stared at the words.
My father noticed my expression.
“What now?”
I slowly lowered the phone.
Because suddenly, the question was not only who betrayed Julian.
It was whether Julian had been hiding a much older truth from me.
A truth that existed before Chloe.
Before the gala.
Before I ever walked into his life.
Because suddenly, the question was not only who betrayed Julian.
It was whether Julian had been hiding a much older truth from me.
A truth that existed before Chloe.
Before the gala.
Before I ever walked into his life.
I stared at the message until the screen dimmed.
The room felt different.
A few minutes earlier, I had been afraid of what Julian had done.
Now I was afraid of what I had never known.
Arthur noticed the change in my expression.
“Clarissa.”
I looked up.
“Do you know anything about a woman who signed Julian’s first acquisition contract?”
His face changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
A small pause.
A slight tightening around his eyes.
But I saw it.
“You know something.”
Arthur leaned back slowly.
“I know there was a woman involved in one of Apex’s earliest expansion deals.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know if she is connected to this.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
He sighed.
“Her name was Evelyn Hart.”
The name meant nothing to me.
And somehow that bothered me more.
“Why have I never heard of her?”
“Because the deal happened before you married Julian.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
Arthur looked toward the window.
“Because Julian asked people not to discuss it.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Why?”
“He said it was personal.”
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because somehow every answer about Julian led to another locked door.
“Everyone knew there were things I shouldn’t ask.”
Arthur looked at me.
“That is not true.”
“It felt true.”
The words came out softer.
“I spent so much time trying to be easy to love that I stopped noticing how little space I was taking.”
Arthur did not interrupt.
He had learned that some things could not be fixed by advice.
“Who is Evelyn Hart?” I asked again.
Arthur folded his hands.
“She was a business consultant.”
“Was?”
“She left the industry several years ago.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
I studied his face.
“You’re telling the truth.”
“Yes.”
That should have comforted me.
Instead, it made everything more confusing.
My phone buzzed again.
A calendar notification appeared.
The reminder was old.
A meeting I had created for myself three years ago.
A simple note.
Call Dad.
I stared at it.
I had forgotten I ever made it.
I deleted it.
Then I looked at Arthur.
“I need to talk to Julian.”
“I thought you needed space.”
“I do.”
“Then why?”
“Because I need answers before other people decide what my life means.”
He nodded slowly.
“That sounds like you.”
I gave him a tired look.
“You say that like it’s a compliment.”
“It is.”
The next morning, I met Julian at a small coffee shop away from downtown.
I chose the place because it was ordinary.
No executives.
No employees.
No people watching.
Just two people sitting across from each other trying to understand how they became strangers.
Julian arrived five minutes late.
That would have bothered me before.
Now I barely noticed.
He looked exhausted.
The perfect businessman image was gone.
His suit was still expensive, but his face looked older.
He sat across from me.
“Thank you for meeting me.”
I nodded.
“I have questions.”
“I figured.”
I took out my phone.
“Who is Evelyn Hart?”
His expression changed immediately.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
“Where did you hear that name?”
“Answer the question.”
He looked down at the table.
“She was important.”
“To you?”
“Yes.”
The answer was quiet.
I waited.
“She helped me build Apex.”
“Your first acquisition?”
He looked up.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Julian rubbed his thumb against the edge of his coffee cup.
“Because I thought it didn’t matter anymore.”
“That is not your decision.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked away.
“I was twenty-eight when I met Evelyn.”
I stayed silent.
“She was older than me.”
“How much older?”
“Eight years.”
“That’s not a lot.”
“No.”
He paused.
“But at the time, she had everything I didn’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“Experience.”
His voice changed slightly.
“She knew investors.
She knew negotiations.
She knew how to make people listen.”
“And you?”
“I knew how to work.”
There was something uncomfortable in the way he said it.
Not pride.
Something closer to embarrassment.
“Evelyn believed in Apex before anyone else did.”
“Were you together?”
Julian looked at me.
“Yes.”
The word landed heavily.
“When?”
“Before you.”
I nodded.
“That isn’t the part that bothers me.”
“Then what is?”
“That I had to find out from a stranger.”
He looked down.
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
I almost hated that phrase.
Because he used it so often after the damage was done.
May you like
“What happened to her?”
Julian took a long breath.
