Chapter 14 - JULIAN FINALLY LOOKED
Julian read the note twice.
Then sat down.
I had never seen him look small.
Part of me wanted to enjoy it.
I didn't.
Humiliation had already poisoned enough people in this family.
Julian agreed to cooperate fully.
He turned over passwords, board chats, and the hidden apartment where Victoria stored duplicate corporate records.
He also admitted something I did not expect.
He had seen Genevieve hit Maya before.
Not once.
Twice.
"Why didn't you stop her?"
He stared at the table.
"Because every time I confronted Genevieve, she threatened to pull Ross financing."
I felt physically sick.
"You traded your daughter's safety for a credit line."
"I told myself it wasn't that bad."
"It was bad enough for Maya."
He cried then.
Real tears.
I did not comfort him.
Remorse mattered.
So did consequences.
He agreed to supervised visitation, relinquished his challenge to Maya's trust, and resigned as CEO pending investigation.
The board appointed Maxwell interim chair under an independent monitor.
Then police found Victoria.
She had not fled the country.
She had gone to the old Vance country house.
Marcus and detectives arrived before dawn.
Victoria was burning documents in the fireplace.
They recovered most of them.
One was a handwritten letter from Celeste Blackwood.
My mother.
Addressed to Victoria.
The first line stopped me.
IF OUR CHILDREN EVER MARRY, PROMISE ME YOU WILL NEVER USE THEIR CHILD AS COLLATERAL.
My mother had predicted the exact sin nineteen years before it happened.
Then the second page revealed why.
May you like
Victoria had once lost custody of her own first child.
A daughter nobody in the Vance family ever mentioned.
