Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN HE LOVED
Bianca recovered quickly.
She always did.
She wiped her face, forced tears into her eyes, and whispered, “Julian, I swear there’s an explanation.”
Julian helped Martha onto a chair.
“Call 911,” he said.
Bianca shook her head. “Wait.”
“No.”
“Julian, please.”
“You tried to kill my mother.”
“I did not!”
Martha coughed. “She pushed me.”
Bianca turned toward her. “You’re lying!”
Julian stepped between them.
“Enough.”
His voice was low.
Bianca stared at him, then suddenly grabbed his arm.
“I love you.”
He pulled away.
“You don’t love me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I wish I didn’t.”
Sirens approached in the distance.
Bianca lowered her voice.
“If you call the police, you’ll destroy everything.”
“What everything?”
She hesitated.
“Our future.”
Julian almost laughed.
“My future was standing in a swimming pool.”
The police arrived. Martha was taken inside, checked by paramedics, and wrapped in a blanket.
Bianca gave a different story.
She claimed Martha had wandered outside, become confused, and fallen into the pool.
Julian said nothing.
He watched her lie.
Then Detective Owen Reed arrived.
“Mr. Hale, your mother says she was pushed.”
“She was.”
“You saw it?”
Julian looked at Bianca.
“Yes.”
Bianca’s face hardened.
Detective Reed noticed.
“Then I’ll need your statement.”
Before Julian could answer, his phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
DON’T TRUST YOUR FIANCÉE. CHECK THE WEST WING CAMERA.
Julian stared at it.
The west wing camera system had been disconnected six months ago.
Or so Bianca had told him.
He excused himself and walked upstairs.
The security room was locked.
Julian forced the door.
Inside, one monitor was glowing.
A single file was open.
WEST WING — ARCHIVE.
He clicked it.
Footage appeared.
Three weeks earlier.
Bianca was standing in his mother’s bedroom.
She was holding a document.
Martha sat across from her, frightened.
Bianca slapped the document onto the desk.
“Sign it.”
Martha shook her head.
The footage had no sound, but the meaning was clear.
Then Bianca leaned close.
The screen suddenly went black.
Julian frowned.
“Come on.”
The monitor flickered.
A second clip opened.
This time, Victor appeared.
Julian recognized him.
Victor Laurent.
Bianca’s older brother.
Victor was supposed to be living in Chicago.
On the recording, Victor said something that made Julian’s stomach drop.
“Once the old woman is gone, Julian signs the trust. Then we control the company.”
Bianca answered.
“And the house.”
Julian stared at the screen.
His family’s $900 million company was protected by a trust established by his father.
The controlling shares would transfer to Julian when he married.
But there was one condition.
If Julian died or was declared mentally incapable, the shares could be challenged.
Bianca had not just been after the house.
She wanted Hale Industries.
A noise came from behind him.
Julian turned.
Bianca stood in the doorway.
“You found it,” she whispered.
Julian closed the laptop.
“Who else knows?”
Bianca smiled faintly.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“What’s the right one?”
“Who do you think installed the camera?”
Then she walked away.
Julian watched her disappear down the hall.
His phone buzzed again.
THIS IS BIGGER THAN BIANCA.
And beneath the message was a photograph.
His father.
May you like
Standing beside Victor Laurent.
Taken twenty years ago.
