Chapter 6: What Julian Hid
“What were you doing in Vanessa’s office?” I asked.
Julian looked at Lady Eleanor, then at me.
“Investigating missing trust payments.”
“You suspected her before our wedding?”
“For six weeks.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I needed evidence.”
Vanessa smiled from the gate.
“He also needed the wedding to continue.
If he canceled, the trust board would ask questions.”
Julian’s hand tightened around the tablet.
“That isn’t why I married Clara.”
“Then tell her about the clause.”
I faced him.
“What clause?”
Lady Eleanor answered first.
“Julian gains voting control of the family trust after marriage.”
The porch seemed to shrink around us.
“You married me to control the trust?”
“No,” Julian said.
“I delayed taking control because I wanted you to know my life was not about money.”
“You let me walk into a secret investigation.
Then you let your mother test me.”
“I didn’t know she planned that.”
Lady Eleanor raised her chin.
“That failure is mine.”
Vanessa opened the gate.
“While this family tears itself apart, I’m leaving.”
I stepped into her path.
“Not with Mother’s deed.”
She pushed the folder beneath her coat.
“Try to stop me.”
Mother came down the steps.
“Give my papers back.”
“You signed them.”
“Because you lied.”
Vanessa pointed at me.
“She always gets forgiven.
She disgraces herself in front of a ballroom, and still people rush to protect her.”
“You forged my voice and threatened Mother.”
“I gave you a choice.”
“You gave me a confession you wrote.”
Julian moved beside me.
“Hand over the folder, Vanessa.”
“Or what?
You will expose me and bring your own conduct before the trustees?”
A car door closed across the street.
Martin Cole approached with a briefcase.
Rachel’s voice sharpened.
“You were ordered to remain available to the bank.”
Martin looked at Vanessa.
“Do they have the original forms?”
“Rachel has copies,” Vanessa said.
“Then take her phone.”
Martin lunged toward Rachel.
Julian caught his wrist, and the briefcase fell open.
Documents scattered across the pavement.
Lady Eleanor picked up one page.
“These are accounts in my name.”
Martin broke free.
“Those are confidential.”
“They are also false,” Eleanor replied.
“I have never banked at your branch.”
Rachel gathered the remaining pages.
“There are twelve accounts here.”
Vanessa pulled a small flash drive from her bag and crushed it beneath her heel.
“You’ll prove nothing without the files.”
A voice came from the open doorway.
“The files aren’t on that drive.”
The wedding videographer stood beside Mother, holding a camera.
“My name is Owen Price,” he said.
“Vanessa asked me to erase yesterday’s corridor footage.
I copied it first.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“I offered to pay you for unused footage.”
“You offered me ten thousand dollars and said Clara would go to prison if I kept it.”
He turned the camera screen toward us.
Vanessa appeared in the bridal suite, photographing my passport and pressing my hand against a blank page while I slept on the sofa after the rehearsal dinner.
My stomach turned.
“You told me I’d had too much champagne.”
“You did,” Vanessa said.
“I had one glass.”
Rachel pointed to another frame.
“What did she put in that drink?”
Vanessa’s eyes moved toward the street.
Mother blocked the gate.
“Answer your sister.”
“It was something to make her sleep.
She was never in danger.”
“You put a dr*g in my glass?”
“You were supposed to wake up after I finished.”
Julian stepped forward.
“You are done.”
“No,” Vanessa said.
“I’m just the only person here who planned beyond tonight.”
She pulled a second phone from her bag and held it up.
“This contains confidential military documents from Julian’s private computer.
If I don’t leave with Mother’s deed, every file goes online.”
Julian went still.
Vanessa looked directly at me.
May you like
“Choose, Clara.
Your mother’s home—or your husband’s career.”
