Chapter 1 - THE TEST THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Julian remained on his knees.
The medical report trembled between his fingers.
I stood near the doorway, watching the man I had loved for twelve years stare at a piece of paper as though it had become a weapon.
“What does it say?” Margaret demanded.
Julian didn't answer.
Victoria shifted the twins against her chest.
“Julian?”
He looked at her.
For the first time since I had known him, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Margaret snatched the report.
Her expression changed after reading the first paragraph.
“No.”
I crossed my arms.
“That's what he said.”
Julian slowly stood.
“You knew?”
“I knew two years ago.”
His face went pale.
“You never told me.”
“You told me never to discuss the results.”
“That doesn't mean—”
“It means you knew there was a problem.”
Victoria suddenly looked confused.
“What problem?”
Julian looked at her.
“Victoria, give me the babies.”
She instinctively stepped backward.
Margaret stared at the report again.
Then she looked at the twins.
“Where is the original?”
I smiled.
“With my attorney.”
Silence.
The report confirmed something Julian had spent two years hiding.
He had been medically infertile.
Not temporarily.
Not because of stress.
The specialist had concluded that natural conception was impossible.
Yet Victoria had given birth to his supposed biological sons.
Julian shook his head.
“This test could be wrong.”
“Perhaps.”
I walked toward him.
“But that's why I had a second test done.”
His face collapsed.
“Second?”
“Three weeks ago.”
I had suspected the truth when Victoria announced her pregnancy.
I had hired an independent specialist.
The results had arrived five days before Julian brought her into our home.
Neither child shared Julian's biological markers.
Margaret sat down.
Victoria whispered:
“No.”
I looked at her.
“You should ask yourself who the father really is.”
She stared at Julian.
He stared back.
And suddenly, the happy little family Margaret had proudly brought into my home no longer looked so happy.
I picked up my suitcase.
Julian grabbed my wrist.
“You're not leaving.”
I looked at his hand.
Then at him.
“You brought another woman and two babies into my house.”
“I made a mistake.”
“No.”
I pulled my wrist free.
“You made a plan.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?”
I smiled.
“Check your company records.”
His face changed.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
I walked outside.
“I simply stopped protecting you.”
Behind me, Julian shouted my name.
I didn't turn around.
Because the real secret wasn't the babies.
It was what I had discovered inside Sterling Meridian.
May you like
And Julian had no idea that the company he thought he controlled...
had been mine all along.
