Chapter 10 - Julian Came to My Office
The next morning, Julian walked into Hawthorne Capital.
He made it past reception because he was still legally my husband.
That changed immediately afterward.
I was in a meeting when Natalie texted.
He’s here.
I stared at the message.
Daniel saw my expression.
“Julian?”
“Yes.”
“Do not meet him alone.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
We moved to a conference room monitored by security.
Detective Morales was not present, but she knew Julian had arrived.
The plan was simple.
Let him talk.
Julian entered five minutes later.
He looked exhausted.
No tie.
Wrinkled shirt.
Dark circles beneath his eyes.
For one dangerous second, my heart remembered loving him.
Then I remembered the photographs.
The tracker.
The forged documents.
Love left very quickly.
He looked around the room.
Daniel.
Natalie.
Two security officers outside the glass door.
His mouth tightened.
“Seriously?”
I gestured toward the chair.
“You wanted to talk.”
“Privately.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
He sat.
I remained standing.
“What do you want?”
His face softened.
“You.”
Daniel almost rolled his eyes.
I didn’t react.
Julian continued.
“I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes.”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
He frowned.
“What?”
“Pick a number.”
“Claire.”
“One forged document? Five? Ten?”
His face changed.
There.
The instant confirmation.
He knew I knew.
I sat slowly.
“How much do you know?”
He whispered it.
Not What are you talking about?
How much do you know?
Daniel looked at me.
I almost smiled.
“Enough.”
Julian rubbed both hands over his face.
“My mother pushed this too far.”
“Of course.”
“She did.”
“You’re blaming her.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“Try harder.”
He leaned forward.
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
“Then you had a remarkably confusing strategy.”
“The company was collapsing.”
“So?”
“My father would lose everything.”
“So you stole from me.”
“I borrowed.”
Daniel spoke for the first time.
“Unauthorized transfer of nearly three million dollars is generally not described as borrowing.”
Julian glared at him.
“This is between me and my wife.”
“No,” I said.
“It stopped being between us when you stole from my company.”
Julian looked back at me.
“I intended to repay it.”
“With what?”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
“Exactly.”
“I thought after we were married—”
“You’d get access.”
“No.”
“You filed a forged guaranty on our wedding morning.”
His face flushed.
“I was going to explain.”
“When?”
“After the honeymoon.”
I stared at him.
“Why did you move the honeymoon flight?”
He froze.
“I wanted us away from everyone.”
“Why?”
“To talk.”
“Why did you arrange medical authority?”
His eyes widened.
Very slightly.
Daniel noticed too.
“What medical authority?” Julian asked.
Too late.
Wrong reaction.
I leaned forward.
“You tell me.”
He swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
“Why was a forged medical authorization attached to our travel file?”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“Why was a $15 million insurance application taken out on me?”
His face changed again.
“That was business.”
I laughed.
“Business?”
“The company needed collateral.”
“My death is collateral?”
“That is not what I meant.”
“What did you mean?”
He stood.
“This is exactly why I wanted privacy.”
Security moved closer outside.
I stayed seated.
“Sit down.”
He stared at me.
Then sat.
For the first time in our relationship, he obeyed me because he had no better option.
“I loved you,” he said.
The past tense did not escape me.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Before or after you researched my company?”
His face went still.
Daniel placed the ownership report from storage on the table.
Julian stared at it.
“We found Cynthia’s unit.”
That broke him.
Not completely.
But enough.
He leaned back.
“She gave you access.”
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened.
“She has no idea what she’s done.”
“That sounds threatening.”
“I’m saying she doesn’t understand the consequences.”
“What consequences?”
He looked at Daniel.
“Leave.”
Daniel smiled.
“No.”
Julian turned toward me.
“My mother is going to destroy Cynthia.”
I watched him carefully.
“Not you?”
“No.”
“Interesting.”
“Claire, you have to understand something.”
“Then explain.”
“My mother controls accounts none of us can access.”
“What accounts?”
“Foreign.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Where?”
Julian shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Switzerland?” I asked.
His face confirmed it.
I continued.
“You were leaving tomorrow.”
Julian looked at me.
“Who showed you that?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because we weren’t leaving.”
“You had tickets.”
“My mother bought them.”
“For your whole family.”
“She wanted options.”
“Running away is an option?”
“When the company collapses and federal investigators start looking around?”
Daniel and I exchanged a glance.
Federal investigators.
We had not mentioned them.
I looked at Julian.
“Who told you federal investigators were involved?”
His expression changed.
Too late.
He had made another mistake.
“No one.”
“You just said—”
“I assumed.”
“No.”
I stood.
“Who told you?”
Julian’s eyes moved toward the glass wall.
Then back to me.
His voice dropped.
“My mother has someone inside.”
“Inside where?”
He said nothing.
“Julian.”
“You need to stop digging.”
There it was.
Not a plea.
A warning.
“Why?”
“Because this is bigger than you think.”
I almost laughed.
“It usually is whenever someone says that.”
He stood too.
“Claire, listen to me.”
“No.”
“If Beatrice believes Cynthia gave you everything, she will panic.”
“That’s her problem.”
“And when my mother panics, she doesn’t think.”
“Still her problem.”
Julian’s voice sharpened.
“She will burn everything down before she lets anyone take it.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“Is that literal?”
He closed his eyes.
For half a second.
Then opened them.
“Ask Cynthia about the warehouse.”
“What warehouse?”
Julian looked at the security officers.
“I’m leaving.”
I stepped into his path.
“What warehouse?”
He met my eyes.
“The one your company owns.”
My stomach turned.
“Hawthorne owns hundreds of properties.”
“This one is in Cicero.”
The storage unit was near Cicero.
“What is inside?”
Julian whispered,
“Everything my mother couldn’t fit in Cynthia’s storage unit.”
Then his eyes shifted toward the window.
May you like
“Or it was.”
A column of black smoke was rising in the distance.
