Chapter 9 - JULIAN KNEW
I listened to the recording at the FBI office two days later.
Dr. Ruiz hated that I went.
Nina hated it too.
Rachel came with me.
Mara made me sit in a conference room with water, snacks, and enough pregnancy pillows to make the chair look ridiculous.
“I’m fine.”
“You are thirty-four weeks pregnant after abdominal trauma.”
“I am fine while sitting.”
“Good.”
She pressed play.
Arthur’s voice came first.
“When did she meet them?”
Dean Mercer’s voice answered.
“January.”
My throat tightened.
Arthur asked.
“How many times?”
“Three confirmed.”
Julian’s voice entered.
“You said she was meeting Rachel.”
Arthur replied.
“She was.”
“Rachel connected her.”
Julian swore.
Then Arthur said.
“Clara has been copying documents.”
Julian answered.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know exactly what she touched.”
I stopped breathing.
Arthur had known.
Months ago.
The recording continued.
Julian said.
“Then why is she still in the house?”
Arthur answered.
“Because removing her tells us we know.”
My skin crawled.
They had kept me close because I was more useful observed.
Julian asked.
“What do you want me to do?”
Arthur’s answer was quiet.
“Keep her comfortable.”
I closed my eyes.
Every dinner.
Every apology.
Every time Julian suddenly became affectionate after weeks of distance.
Was any of it real?
The recording continued.
Julian said.
“She’s pregnant.”
Arthur answered.
“That makes her predictable.”
Julian became angry.
“Do not bring the baby into this.”
Arthur laughed.
“The baby is already in this.”
Then Beatrice’s voice entered.
I had not known she was in the room.
“The trust solves part of the problem.”
Julian said.
“Not if Clara controls it.”
Beatrice answered.
“Then Clara cannot control it.”
My hand moved over my stomach.
Mara watched me.
I nodded for her to continue.
Arthur said.
“We need a record.”
Julian asked.
“Of what?”
Beatrice answered.
“Her instability.”
Julian was silent.
Then.
“She is not unstable.”
The words hurt.
For one second he defended me.
Then Arthur said.
“She is secretly working with federal agents against her husband’s family.”
“That is unstable enough for a lawyer to build around.”
Julian said.
“I’m not having her committed.”
Beatrice laughed.
“No one said committed.”
Arthur answered.
“We need temporary control.”
“Days.”
“Maybe weeks.”
“Long enough to secure the trust and move what must be moved.”
There it was.
Not suspicion.
Plan.
Julian asked.
“What about Chloe?”
Arthur said.
“She can help.”
Julian’s voice hardened.
“She is not part of this.”
Beatrice replied.
“She already is.”
The recording skipped.
Then Julian spoke again.
“What exactly do you want at the shower?”
Beatrice said.
“Bring Chloe.”
“Let Clara react.”
“People will see.”
Julian asked.
“And the pregnancy story?”
Arthur answered.
“Leave that to us.”
Julian said.
“She believes Chloe is pregnant.”
Beatrice corrected him.
“She will.”
My throat tightened.
He knew.
Maybe not at first.
But by then Julian knew Chloe’s pregnancy was part of a plan.
He may not have known it was fake.
He knew they would use it.
The recording continued.
Julian said.
“I’m not signing anything that takes the baby from Clara.”
Arthur’s voice became colder.
“You already signed the acknowledgment.”
“That was about Chloe.”
“That was about control.”
Julian swore.
Then came the sentence that destroyed the last excuse I had been subconsciously building for him.
“If Clara goes along quietly after the raid, fine.”
“If she fights me, I need the trust.”
I stopped the audio.
Mara looked at me.
“You don’t have to continue.”
“Yes.”
“You can stop.”
“No.”
I pressed play myself.
Arthur said.
“The raid may not happen.”
Julian answered.
“You said she met the FBI.”
“Meeting is not indictment.”
Beatrice said.
“We need her discredited before anyone acts.”
Julian breathed out.
“Then the shower.”
“Yes.”
“Chloe comes.”
“Yes.”
“Clara reacts.”
“Yes.”
“And after that?”
Arthur answered.
“We decide what kind of wife she intends to be.”
The recording ended.
I stared at the table.
Rachel was crying.
Mara remained quiet.
I had spent days separating Julian from Arthur in my mind.
Arthur was the criminal father.
Beatrice the manipulator.
Chloe the paid mistress.
Julian the weak man who made monstrous choices under pressure.
The recording destroyed that comfort.
He knew enough.
He knew I was helping investigators.
He knew his parents wanted me framed as unstable.
He knew Chloe would be used to provoke me.
He knew the trust was the goal.
And he brought her anyway.
Mara asked.
“Do you need a break?”
“No.”
“There’s more.”
Of course.
“What?”
“Dean kept copies of security reports.”
“On me?”
“Yes.”
“Who ordered them?”
“Arthur.”
“Did Julian receive them?”
“Some.”
I laughed.
There was no humor.
“My husband was reading surveillance reports about me.”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“Locations.”
“Contacts.”
“Phone metadata.”
“Photos.”
I looked at Mara.
“How did they get phone metadata?”
“Company family-plan account.”
“I changed my phone.”
“Your device was still managed through Vance security.”
I felt violated all over again.
“The privacy settings?”
“Did not stop account-level records.”
I exhaled.
“What about my meetings with you?”
“They saw locations.”
“Not conversations.”
“No.”
Rachel said.
“That’s why Arthur did not know what Clara had given you.”
“Correct.”
Arthur knew I was dangerous.
He did not know how dangerous.
That was why the raid surprised him.
Mara slid another report toward me.
It showed a photograph of me leaving a bank.
“What is this?”
“You accessed a safe-deposit box.”
“Yes.”
“Arthur’s team followed you.”
My blood went cold.
“That box contains originals.”
Mara nodded.
“We know.”
“Are they safe?”
“Agents secured them this morning.”
I exhaled.
That box contained the most important evidence.
Original invoices.
A handwritten ledger.
And a flash drive Michael Trent gave me anonymously.
Or so I had thought.
Mara continued.
“Dean says Arthur planned to retrieve the box after the shower.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
“Your purse.”
I looked confused.
“He wanted your key.”
My body went cold.
The baby shower was not only a stage.
They expected me distracted.
Humiliated.
Possibly removed.
While someone took the key from my belongings.
“Who?”
“Dean refuses to say until his cooperation agreement is finalized.”
Rachel whispered.
“Was it Chloe?”
I knew before Mara answered.
“No.”
“Who?”
May you like
Mara looked at me.
“Beatrice.”
