Chapter 7 - JULIAN FINALLY TOLD THE TRUTH
Robert Ellison survived.
Barely.
The bullet missed his heart by less than two inches.
And once doctors stabilized him, Robert decided prison sounded significantly better than dying for Victoria Hayes.
He began talking.
For fourteen hours.
About shell companies.
Bribery.
Illegal contracts.
Daniel.
Victoria.
Julian.
Every confession pulled another brick from Julian’s empire.
By the following afternoon, federal prosecutors charged Julian with conspiracy, fraud, attempted murder, obstruction, and multiple offenses connected to Daniel Cross’s death.
Victoria received even more charges.
I should have felt victorious.
Instead, I was standing in my parents’ kitchen at three in the morning warming a bottle while Amelia screamed like she had been personally betrayed by milk taking too long.
My father appeared in pajama pants and an old Navy sweatshirt.
“Give her to me.”
“You have a meeting at seven.”
“I commanded aircraft carriers on four hours of sleep.”
“You also once put orange juice in your coffee after I was born.”
“That story remains unverified.”
I handed him Amelia.
She stopped crying almost immediately.
I stared.
“You traitor.”
My father smiled at his granddaughter.
“She recognizes authority.”
“She recognizes your body heat.”
“Same thing.”
For five minutes, life felt almost normal.
Then my phone rang.
Marcus.
“Julian wants to make a statement.”
I looked at the clock.
“At three in the morning?”
“He says he’ll only do it if you’re present.”
“No.”
A pause.
“He says it concerns Daniel’s death and a threat against your daughter.”
My blood cooled.
“I’ll come.”
My father’s smile disappeared.
“I’m coming too.”
The interview occurred at a federal facility before sunrise.
Julian entered wearing detention clothing.
Without the tailored suits, expensive watch, and polished shoes, he looked like someone I might have passed in an airport without noticing.
He stopped when he saw me.
His eyes moved toward my abdomen.
“How are you?”
I stared at him.
“Why am I here?”
He sat.
His lawyer whispered something.
Julian ignored him.
“Victoria planned to take Amelia.”
“We know.”
“No. Not from your parents’ house.”
My hands tightened.
“She had another plan.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Explain.”
Julian looked at me.
“When she first realized you were a Sterling, she wanted access to your family.”
“You knew?”
“Not at first.”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m not.”
He swallowed.
“She told me three months ago.”
My chest tightened.
“So before Cabo.”
“Yes.”
“And what did you think?”
Julian looked ashamed.
“I thought you had deceived me.”
I almost laughed.
“I didn’t tell you my father was famous, so your response was attempted murder?”
“No.”
“Then explain it.”
“I spent ten years believing I built everything myself.”
“You did build much of it.”
“But the money that saved us was yours.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe—”
“I let you believe an investor believed in you.”
“You made me look like a fool.”
My father shifted.
I held up a hand.
This was mine.
“Julian, do you hear yourself?”
His eyes dropped.
“You discovered your wife secretly used her own money to save your company, and somehow you decided you were the victim.”
“I was angry.”
“You were humiliated because you realized the woman you treated like an accessory had been protecting you.”
His jaw tightened.
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?”
I leaned forward.
“You drugged me.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“You tied me to a jet ski.”
“I know.”
“You watched Victoria drag me while I begged.”
His voice broke.
“I know.”
“Our daughter almost died.”
A tear slid down his face.
I felt nothing.
That surprised me.
Once, seeing Julian cry would have broken my heart.
Now it simply looked like evidence of a consequence reaching him.
He wiped his face.
“The plan was to frighten you.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“You gave me pills that increased bleeding.”
“I didn’t know about that.”
“Victoria gave them to you.”
“Yes.”
“And you never asked what they were?”
“She said a sedative.”
“So you knowingly drugged your pregnant wife.”
“Yes.”
The word landed hard.
Finally.
No excuses.
No passive voice.
Yes.
Marcus wrote something.
Julian continued.
“I thought if you became scared, you’d sign the restructuring agreement.”
“Why did you need it?”
“Because the company was collapsing.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“The offshore contracts were drying up. Daniel’s disappearance made several partners nervous. Victoria kept covering losses with illegal funds.”
My stomach turned.
“You were bankrupt?”
“Almost.”
“And instead of telling me—”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because you would know I failed.”
I leaned back.
There it was.
The center of everything.
Pride.
Julian would rather destroy me than admit weakness.
“What happened to Daniel?”
His face changed.
His lawyer spoke.
“My client is not required—”
Julian raised one hand.
“Enough.”
He looked at me.
“I killed him.”
Silence swallowed the room.
My father’s eyes hardened.
Marcus did not move.
Julian continued.
“He confronted me about the invoices. We argued.”
His voice became distant.
“He said he was going to federal investigators.”
“What did you do?”
“I grabbed him.”
Julian stared at his hands.
“He shoved me away. I punched him.”
My stomach turned.
“He fell.”
“Against the corner of a desk.”
“Was he alive?”
“Yes.”
My eyes burned.
“What happened then?”
“I panicked. I called Victoria.”
“Why Victoria?”
“She had created the vendor accounts.”
Of course.
“She came with Robert.”
“And?”
“Daniel was unconscious but breathing.”
I already knew what came next.
Still, hearing Julian say it made the horror real.
“Victoria said if he woke up, we were finished.”
His voice cracked.
“She had something in her purse.”
“The injection.”
“Yes.”
“Did you stop her?”
Julian looked at me.
“No.”
That single word told me more about him than ten years of marriage.
“What did you do?”
“I turned away.”
I felt sick.
“You turned away while she killed him.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“We put him in his car. Robert arranged the recovery boat. We sank it.”
I closed my eyes.
Daniel’s daughter had been six.
She was ten now.
Four years wondering why her father left.
He never left.
Julian continued.
“Victoria kept the evidence.”
“Insurance.”
“Yes.”
“That’s how she controlled you.”
“At first.”
“And then you started sleeping with her.”
His face twisted.
“Yes.”
I laughed once, quietly.
“That is almost impressive.”
“Genevieve.”
“No. Don’t.”
I stood slowly.
My incision hurt.
I welcomed it.
Pain reminded me I was alive.
“You said there was a threat against Amelia.”
Julian nodded.
“Victoria created passports.”
“For whom?”
“Herself.”
“And?”
He looked at me.
“For Amelia.”
My blood froze.
“She planned to kidnap my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To bargain with your father.”
My father leaned forward.
“For what?”
“Immunity and access to frozen offshore funds.”
My father’s expression became murderous.
“Where are the passports?”
“Storage unit in San Diego.”
Marcus immediately sent agents.
Julian looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
I stared at him.
“For which part?”
“All of it.”
“You’re sorry because you lost.”
“No.”
“Would you have stopped if the helicopters never came?”
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
That was my answer.
I picked up my coat.
“Genevieve.”
I stopped at the door.
“I loved you.”
His voice broke completely.
I looked back.
“I believe you loved the version of me that never threatened your ego.”
He cried silently.
I continued.
“But love that requires someone else to stay small isn’t love.”
Then I walked out.
Outside, sunrise was beginning over the city.
My father followed.
Neither of us spoke until we reached the parking lot.
Then he asked,
“Are you okay?”
I looked toward the pink horizon.
May you like
“I think I finally am.”
And for the first time since Cabo, I meant it.
