Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO FINALLY FOUGHT BACK
For years, Julian had treated my pain like a weakness.
Now I intended to make it the reason I fought.
Rachel helped me prepare a formal complaint regarding the falsified medical records, identity misuse, and suspected financial fraud.
I also authorized my legal team to cooperate with investigators examining the medical-data operation.
But I refused to let anyone use my pregnancy as publicity.
"My son isn't evidence," I told Rachel.
She nodded.
"Understood."
Gabriel remained beside me without taking control.
He attended meetings when I invited him.
He stayed away when I wanted privacy.
And when I asked him to stop reading every alarming news article about Julian aloud, he did.
It was such a small thing.
But after my marriage, it felt revolutionary.
Three days later, Julian's emergency financial guardianship petition was denied.
The judge found insufficient evidence that I lacked capacity to manage my affairs.
My attorney also presented documents indicating that the disputed account had been opened with forged identification.
The court referred the financial concerns for further investigation.
When Rachel called with the news, I cried.
Not because the battle was over.
Because someone in authority had finally looked at the facts and refused to accept Julian's version of me.
That evening, I received a message from Dalia.
We need to talk.
I stared at the screen.
Then showed Rachel.
She advised me not to meet privately.
Dalia agreed to speak with investigators present.
The next morning, she arrived at Rachel's office wearing sunglasses and a beige coat.
She looked nothing like the confident woman who had stood beside Julian at the gala.
Her hands were shaking.
I sat across from her.
"What do you want?"
Dalia removed her glasses.
There were dark circles beneath her eyes.
"Julian lied to me."
I almost laughed.
"Join the club."
She flinched.
"I deserve that."
I said nothing.
She reached into her handbag and removed a flash drive.
"Everything is here."
Rachel leaned forward.
"What is it?"
"Emails. Contracts. Payment records."
Dalia swallowed.
"Julian told me the medical data had been legally licensed. He said Khloe had signed the necessary releases."
I stared at her.
"You knew my records were altered."
She lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
"And you did nothing."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I wanted him to choose me."
The admission made me feel strangely empty.
I'd spent years imagining Dalia as the woman who possessed something I lacked.
Now she was sitting across from me admitting she'd traded her integrity for the same man's approval.
I looked at her.
"Why are you telling the truth now?"
She took a shaky breath.
"Because Julian is planning to leave the country."
Rachel stiffened.
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
My heart began pounding.
"Where?"
"Geneva."
Dalia looked at me.
"He's moving the remaining money through an offshore company."
Rachel immediately contacted the investigators.
But Dalia wasn't finished.
"Khloe, there's something else."
I looked up.
She swallowed.
"Julian has a copy of your current ultrasound."
My blood went cold.
"How?"
"I don't know."
Dalia began crying.
"He keeps it in his office."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
May you like
Her next words nearly stopped my heart.
"Because he believes your baby is the only thing that can keep Gabriel Lancaster from testifying against him."
