Chapter 3: The Name Julian Feared
The garden gates opened, and six cars rolled along the gravel drive.
A tall, silver-haired man stepped from the first one, followed by a woman carrying a leather case and a doctor with an emergency bag.
“Elena.”
Her father’s voice crossed the terrace before he did.
Gabriel Moretti stopped when he saw his daughter on the ground, then removed his jacket and placed it around her shoulders.
“Papa?” Elena’s fingers closed around his sleeve.
“How did you know?”
“Rose called my office.” Gabriel looked toward the housekeeper standing beside the kitchen door.
“She said you might not have another day to wait.”
Julian stepped between Gabriel and the table.
“You are trespassing on my property.”
Gabriel did not rise.
“Dr.
Shaw, examine my daughter.”
“You don’t give orders here,” Julian said.
“Elena signed the estate over to me.”
Elena caught Julian’s wrist before he could retreat.
“Show him what you made me sign.”
Julian pulled free.
“You signed willingly.”
“I thought it was a medical form.”
“You should have read it.”
Dr.
Shaw knelt and placed a cuff around Elena’s arm.
His expression changed as he read the numbers.
“She needs a hospital now.”
“She needs to stop performing,” Julian replied.
“Our guests are watching.”
Gabriel stood so slowly that Julian took one step back.
“My daughter asked you for medical help.”
“She is my wife.”
“She is not your property.”
Chloe moved beside Julian.
“This family argument is embarrassing everyone.”
“Elena is in distress,” Dr.
Shaw said.
“If you delay her care, I will state that in my report.”
Julian held up the folded document.
“No one removes her without my permission.
This includes temporary medical authority.”
The woman with the leather case stepped forward.
“Mara Ellison, counsel for the Moretti Family Trust.
That paper gives you no such authority.”
“You haven’t even read it.”
“I wrote the trust agreement governing this estate.” Mara extended her hand.
“The villa cannot be transferred by Elena, by a spouse, or by anyone acting under medical authority.”
Julian’s smile faltered.
“Then why is her signature on the amendment?”
“That is what a judge will ask.”
Elena pushed against the table, but her legs folded.
Gabriel caught her before her knees reached the stone.
“Don’t let him take my baby,” she whispered.
“No one is taking either of you.”
Julian blocked the path again.
“Walk out with her, Moretti, and I’ll tell every newspaper what sort of man you really are.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“Tell them I spent twenty years building a security empire among men I should never have trusted.
Tell them I left that world when my wife asked me to.
Then tell them why my pregnant daughter was kneeling at your feet.”
“You think money makes you untouchable?”
“No,” Gabriel said.
“Evidence makes you accountable.”
Rose crossed the terrace holding her phone.
“I recorded what happened in the garden.”
Julian lunged toward it, but Elena seized his jacket.
“Don’t touch her.”
For the first time, Julian looked directly at his wife.
“You will regret choosing him over me.”
“I chose my child.”
Dr.
Shaw and Gabriel helped Elena toward the car.
Behind them, Rose handed her phone to Mara while the guests watched Julian in silence.
Chloe slipped inside unnoticed.
She hurried upstairs, pulled the cedar box from beneath Elena’s bed, and carried it into the empty fireplace.
Julian appeared in the doorway with a silver lighter.
May you like
“No letters,” he said, flicking the flame alive.
“No case.”
