Chapter 17
“How long?”
She shook her head.
“Before you.”
“And during?”
She said nothing.
Julian stood.
“During?”
“Yes.”
The word was almost inaudible.
He turned away.
I saw his hands clench.
Vanessa rushed on.
“You and Evelyn were married. You kept telling me you needed time. Adrian was familiar. I had known him for years.”
“How did you get pregnant?”
“I don't know.”
Julian looked at her.
“Three babies, and you don't know who their father is?”
She cried harder.
“I was taking fertility medication.”
Rachel's eyes widened.
“What medication?”
Vanessa named it.
Rachel slowly sat down.
“Who prescribed it?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Adrian.”
Julian stared at her as though the room had vanished.
“You told me the triplets were spontaneous.”
“I was afraid.”
“You told me three sons were proof we were meant to be together.”
“I loved you.”
“You had another man prescribing fertility medication while sleeping with both of us.”
“It wasn't like that.”
“What was it like?”
No one answered.
Vanessa began speaking too quickly.
“I wanted a child. I thought if I got pregnant, you would finally make a decision. You kept going home to her every night. You said you loved me but you wouldn't leave.”
I felt the words enter the room.
Julian looked at me.
I looked away.
Vanessa continued.
“Adrian said the medication might help. Then I got pregnant. When they saw three embryos, I panicked.”
Rachel corrected her.
“Three gestational sacs.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Whatever.”
Rachel's expression hardened but she stayed silent.
Julian asked the only question that mattered.
“Did Adrian know they might be his?”
“Yes.”
The word shattered what remained.
Margaret started crying.
Charles sat behind his desk for the first time.
Julian seemed unable to breathe.
“And you let me believe they were unquestionably mine.”
“I thought they probably were.”
“Probably?”
“They look like you.”
“No, they don't.”
The words came from Margaret.
Everyone turned.
She pressed a hand over her mouth.
“I always thought Henry looked different.”
Vanessa broke.
“You all loved them yesterday.”
Julian stared at her.
“I love them now.”
She looked up.
That answer silenced everyone.
Julian rubbed both hands over his face.
“I have fed those boys. Bathed them. Stayed awake when Oliver had pneumonia. Walked Henry around the nursery every night for six months because he wouldn't sleep. Whatever a DNA test says, they are my children in every way that matters to me.”