Chapter 13
“And you are?”
“Rebecca Sloan. Ms. Carter's counsel.”
The word counsel changed his posture.
Not because he was afraid.
Because now he understood this wasn't an emotional ambush without boundaries.
Rebecca continued.
“Ms. Carter is not requesting financial relief today. Nor is she challenging the divorce settlement.”
Julian looked at me.
“You don't want anything?”
I almost laughed.
“I want a lot of things, Julian. Most of them can't be bought.”
Before he could answer, movement near the house drew everyone's attention.
Vanessa had appeared.
She wore a wedding gown with a long veil pinned beneath her blond hair.
Three little boys stood near a nanny behind her.
The triplets.
James.
Oliver.
Henry.
For the first time in my life, I saw all seven children in the same place.
Vanessa's eyes went to Julian.
Then the papers.
Then me.
Then my children.
She became completely white.
Not angry.
Not confused.
Terrified.
I noticed it immediately.
So did Rachel, standing near the back of the gathering.
She had come because I asked her to be there for the children afterward.
Our eyes met.
Rachel's expression changed.
Vanessa walked toward us.
“What is happening?”
Julian turned.
His face was still wet.
“They're mine.”
Vanessa stopped.
“What?”
“These children.”
He looked at Noah and the others.
“Evelyn was pregnant when she left.”
Vanessa stared at me.
Her hands began trembling.
I had expected jealousy.
Shock.
Maybe fear about inheritance.
This was something else.
Charles noticed too.
“Vanessa?”
She looked at him.
“I need a minute.”
Margaret's voice sharpened.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
But Vanessa backed away.
One step.
Then another.
And that was when I understood Rachel had been right about one thing.
My children weren't the secret Vanessa feared.
They were merely the secret that might cause the Whitmores to start asking questions.
Julian watched her.
“Vanessa?”
She forced a smile.
“This is obviously overwhelming.”
She touched his arm.
“We should go inside.”
Julian did not move.
“Why are you shaking?”
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
Charles looked from Vanessa to Rachel.
Then to me.
His instincts for danger had built an empire.
“What aren't we seeing?”
I answered carefully.
“I don't know.”
That was true.
Vanessa's eyes snapped toward me.
I continued.
“But I think she does.”
For the first time since I arrived, Vanessa looked at me directly.
And what I saw on her face confirmed only one thing.