Chapter 9 - The Wedding Was Back On
By noon, the wedding announcement was public again.
Chloe posted a photograph of herself and Julian smiling on the terrace.
The caption read, Love survives jealousy.
I nearly threw my phone across the room.
Julian refused to explain his decision.
Every time I asked, he said the same thing.
“Trust me.”
That was difficult advice from the son who had ignored warnings about Chloe for months.
Martin came to the house that evening.
I showed him Chloe’s blackmail message.
He immediately contacted a criminal attorney.
We also disclosed my husband’s old transaction voluntarily.
I would not let Chloe control us with shame.
“If investigators ask questions, we answer them,” I told Julian.
“You could lose the foundation.”
“Then I lose it.”
“You could lose your reputation.”
“Then I lose that too.”
He stared at me.
“I won’t let you marry a woman who abuses people because I’m afraid of embarrassment.”
Something softened in his face.
Then disappeared again.
“I need you to stay out of the wedding.”
“What?”
“Chloe doesn’t trust you.”
“She shouldn’t.”
“I need her calm.”
I stared at him.
“You’re asking me not to attend my only son’s wedding?”
His eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
That hurt more than the bucket.
More than Chloe’s insults.
More than the threat.
I stood.
“If that is truly what you want, I will respect it.”
He looked as if he wanted to say something.
He did not.
That night, Elena found me packing a small suitcase.
“You’re leaving?”
“For a few days.”
She looked furious.
“He’s choosing her?”
“I don’t know what he’s choosing.”
Before I left, I stopped in the foyer.
The stain from Chloe’s dirty water had been cleaned away.
But I could still see exactly where I had stood.
Elena hugged me.
Then whispered, “Mrs. Vance, there’s something Mr. Julian asked me not to tell you.”
I pulled back.
“What?”
She looked toward the staircase.
“He installed new cameras this morning.”
“Where?”
“All over the house.”
My heart began pounding.
Elena continued.
“And he told Daniel to make sure Chloe believes they’re turned off.”
I stared at her.
Then I understood.
Julian had not surrendered.
He had invited Chloe back into the house.
May you like
And this time, he wanted her comfortable enough to reveal what she was really after.
---
