Chapter 3 - CHLOE WASN’T CARRYING THE REAL HEIRThe next morning, Chloe appeared at my hospital room.
My sister immediately stood.
“No.”
Chloe raised both hands.
“I’m not here to fight.”
Rachel looked ready to throw her through a window anyway.
I studied Chloe.
Without the makeup and expensive dress, she looked younger.
Too young.
Scared.
“What do you want?”
She closed the door.
“Julian lied to me.”
I almost laughed.
“Congratulations. We have something in common.”
Her face reddened.
“He told me you knew about us.”
“I didn’t.”
“He said your marriage was basically over.”
“It wasn’t.”
“He said you were only staying until the baby was born.”
“Also a lie.”
She looked down.
“I believed him.”
“That doesn’t explain coming to my baby shower.”
“No.”
At least she admitted that.
“I was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
I wasn’t ready to forgive her.
But I was willing to listen.
She sat.
“There’s something you need to know about the baby.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Julian isn’t the father.”
Silence.
Rachel’s mouth opened.
I stared at Chloe.
“What?”
She began crying.
“I found out two weeks ago.”
“Then why did you let him call your child the real heir?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“His family.”
That answer surprised me.
Chloe explained.
Before Julian, she had dated someone named Marcus Reed.
They broke up.
Shortly afterward, she met Julian.
When she discovered she was pregnant, Julian insisted the baby must be his.
He never requested a paternity test.
Instead, he became obsessed with the idea of a son.
A replacement heir.
“There’s more,” Chloe whispered.
“Of course there is.”
“Patricia knew.”
I froze.
“She knew Julian might not be the father?”
“Yes.”
“Why would she encourage him?”
“Because she wanted you gone.”
That didn’t make sense.
“Why?”
Chloe wiped her face.
“She said after your baby was born, your trust would become harder to control.”
My blood went cold.
My father’s trust had protections that changed after I became a parent.
Once my son was born, certain assets would pass into a structure Julian couldn’t easily touch.
“They wanted me out before delivery.”
Chloe nodded.
I felt sick.
Chloe handed me her phone.
Messages from Patricia.
Do not tell Julian anything yet.
The only thing that matters is getting Evelyn out.
Another:
Once the divorce papers are signed, we’ll deal with paternity privately.
Another:
Julian doesn’t need to know everything.
I looked up.
“Why are you showing me this?”
Chloe cried harder.
“Because they’re blaming me now.”
Of course they were.
Powerful families love accomplices until they need scapegoats.
“They told investigators I manipulated Julian.”
“Did you?”
“I slept with a married man.”
She looked at me.
“I’ll own that. But I didn’t steal eighty million dollars.”
Fair.
“Will you give these messages to investigators?”
“Yes.”
“Will you testify?”
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
That changed everything.
By noon, the news broke publicly.
FEDERAL RAID TARGETS VANCE INDUSTRIES.
Julian’s face appeared on television.
So did Charles’s.
Then mine.
A photograph from a charity gala.
The headline:
PREGNANT VANCE HEIRESS MAY BE KEY WITNESS.
I hated that word.
Heiress.
I wasn’t the heir to anything Vance.
And after what I knew, I didn’t want to be.
Julian called from his attorney’s office.
Against Ruiz’s advice, I answered with my attorney present.
“Evelyn.”
His voice was soft.
The voice he used when he wanted something.
“Are you okay?”
I almost admired the performance.
“You hit me yesterday.”
“I lost control.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re scared.”
Silence.
Then:
“We can fix this.”
There it was.
“How?”
“Tell them you misunderstood the financial documents.”
I laughed.
“You’re asking me to lie to federal investigators?”
“No. I’m asking you to remember who your family is.”
“My family is currently kicking me from inside my stomach.”
“Evelyn.”
“Julian.”
His voice hardened.
“If my father goes down, everyone goes down.”
“Not me.”
“You signed documents.”
“You forged my signature.”
“You can’t prove that.”
I smiled.
He still didn’t know.
“Yes, I can.”
Silence.
Months earlier, I had installed a small camera in our home office after noticing documents moved from my desk.
The footage showed Julian using my laptop.
Opening my electronic signature file.
Approving documents.
Then laughing on the phone.
I had copies.
So did federal investigators.
Julian whispered:
“You recorded me?”
“You taught me not to trust you.”
Then I ended the call.
That evening, my attorney arrived carrying divorce papers.
I signed every page.
When I reached the final signature line, my hand shook.
Not because I wanted Julian back.
Because six years deserved some grief.
Even a bad marriage contains memories that once felt good.
My wedding day.
Our first apartment.
The first time he heard the baby’s heartbeat and cried.
Were those moments fake?
Maybe not.
People can mean something one day and betray it later.
That truth hurt more than believing he had always been a monster.
I signed.
Then placed my hand over my stomach.
“You and me now, little man.”
He kicked.
May you like
I smiled.
“Yeah. I think so too.”
