Chapter 11 - Julianne’s Version
Agent Cole separated Julianne from every other witness.
Her attorney arrived two hours later.
By evening, she had requested a formal interview.
I was not allowed inside.
But Cole called me afterward.
“She denies asking Thomas about meningitis.”
“Do you believe her?”
“I believe evidence.”
“What evidence do we have?”
“Not enough yet.”
Julianne admitted knowing Lily was hospitalized.
That alone felt like another funeral.
David knew.
Julianne knew.
Ethan knew.
I had been the only person still behaving as though David simply hadn’t received the message.
Julianne claimed she begged David to check his phone.
David allegedly refused.
According to her, he said Maya always exaggerated.
Then Julianne told investigators something unexpected.
She had recorded David.
Not once.
Dozens of times.
“She was protecting herself,” Cole explained.
“From him?”
“From everyone.”
Julianne started recording their conversations after discovering the offshore transfers.
She suspected David might eventually blame her.
She was right.
The recordings captured arguments about money.
The USB drive.
The shell companies.
And Nolan.
One recording was made the night Lily died.
Agent Cole asked whether I wanted to hear it.
I said yes.
David’s voice came first.
“Turn that thing off.”
Then Julianne.
“Your wife has called forty-something times.”
“So?”
“What if it’s serious?”
“She wants attention.”
“David, your assistant said Lily is in the hospital.”
Silence.
Then David spoke.
“I cannot fix everything.”
“You’re her father.”
“And I am also running a four-billion-dollar company.”
Julianne replied.
“You’re lying on a yacht.”
David laughed.
Then came the words that finished whatever remained of my marriage.
“If something truly serious happens, someone will tell me.”
Julianne said.
“They are telling you.”
The recording ended.
I sat without moving.
Agent Cole waited.
Eventually, I asked.
“Did she ask Thomas how long meningitis takes to become fatal?”
“Her attorney says the question was taken out of context.”
“What context makes that acceptable?”
“We’re investigating.”
I hated that sentence.
Investigating meant waiting.
Waiting meant imagining.
Then Cole added.
“We also found a voicemail from Julianne to Thomas.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“What does it say?”
“It was left six hours before Lily died.”
He played it.
Julianne sounded frantic.
“Thomas, call me back.”
“David is refusing to leave.”
“If this gets worse and Lily dies, Maya will destroy him.”
A pause.
Then her voice lowered.
“And if David goes down, I need to know my name is nowhere on those accounts.”
I stared at Agent Cole.
Julianne’s question had not been about Lily’s survival.
It had been about her own exposure.
She may not have wanted Lily dead.
But she had known.
And she had stayed on the yacht anyway.
May you like
Just like David.
---
