Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN AT LEO’S SCHOOL
Sarah’s hands began to shake.
“Answer me.”
Victoria said nothing.
Julian looked between them.
“What school?”
Sarah explained the visit.
Victoria immediately shook her head.
“I have never been anywhere near that child’s school.”
Mrs. Alvarez quietly interrupted.
“That may not be true.”
Everyone turned.
She held out a tablet.
“I asked security to search the vehicle logs.”
A black Sterling Holdings SUV had entered a parking garage two blocks from Leo’s preschool eleven days earlier.
The driver was registered to Victoria.
Victoria laughed.
“Chicago is a large city.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“Why were you following my son?”
“I wasn’t.”
Leo stirred on the sofa.
Sarah immediately lowered her voice.
Julian did too.
“This ends tonight.”
He looked toward his attorney.
“I want a paternity test.”
Sarah stiffened.
Julian raised one hand.
“Only with your permission.”
“I will not force anything.”
Sarah looked at sleeping Leo.
For years she had imagined Julian denying him.
Now Julian was standing in front of her asking for proof.
The irony hurt.
But Sarah also understood something else.
If Victoria had really been watching Leo, then this was no longer simply about Sarah’s past.
It was about her child’s safety.
“I’ll agree.”
Victoria scoffed.
“Wonderful.”
“A maid finds a billionaire and suddenly everyone needs DNA.”
Julian turned.
“You’re finished here.”
He ordered security to remove her from the estate.
Victoria resisted.
Then she looked directly at Sarah.
“You have no idea what you are doing.”
Sarah stared back.
“Neither did you when you ordered me to dance.”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“You think this is about humiliation?”
“No.”
She smiled without warmth.
“This is about something much larger than you.”
Julian heard it.
“So there is something.”
Victoria realized her mistake.
She said nothing more.
After she was gone, Sarah sat beside Leo.
Julian remained across the room.
Neither knew what to say.
Finally Leo woke.
He looked around sleepily.
“Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
Leo sat up.
Then he looked at Julian.
“You have trains.”
Julian smiled faintly.
“Yes.”
“My mommy says my daddy liked trains.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Leo continued.
“She says maybe that’s why I like them too.”
Julian looked toward Sarah.
She could no longer meet his eyes.
Then Leo pulled something from his tuxedo pocket.
A folded card.
“Mrs. Sterling gave me this.”
Sarah snatched it.
“You saw Victoria?”
Leo nodded.
“Before the party.”
Julian unfolded the card.
Only six words were written inside.
ASK YOUR MOM WHO YOUR FATHER IS.
Sarah’s stomach dropped.
Victoria had not accidentally discovered Leo.
She had brought him to the ballroom deliberately.
May you like
And whatever game she had planned, Sarah suspected they had not yet reached its cruelest part.
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