Chapter 2 - THE NAME JULIAN NEVER EXPECTED TO HEARNobody spoke.
Victoria stared at Julian.
“What exactly are you implying?”
Julian didn't answer.
He walked toward Leo.
Sarah immediately stepped backward.
“Please don't.”
Julian stopped.
“I won't hurt him.”
Leo hid behind Sarah.
Julian's expression softened.
He had seen the boy's face.
There was no doubt.
But he needed proof.
“Sarah,” he said quietly.
“Where did you get that necklace?”
Sarah looked down.
Around her neck was a small silver pendant.
She had worn it since she was eighteen.
“It belonged to my mother.”
Julian's breathing stopped.
He recognized it.
He had given that pendant to a woman years ago.
A woman named Emily.
His sister.
Emily had disappeared after a mysterious car accident.
And the pendant had been missing.
Julian looked at Sarah.
“Who was your mother?”
Sarah hesitated.
“Emily Miller.”
Julian stepped backward.
Victoria noticed.
“Julian?”
He looked at her.
“Do you know what you just did?”
Victoria frowned.
“No.”
“You humiliated the daughter of the woman my family spent twenty years searching for.”
Sarah looked confused.
“What are you talking about?”
Julian turned toward her.
“Your mother wasn't Emily Miller.”
Sarah froze.
“She was Emily Vance.”
Silence.
Leo clutched Sarah's hand.
Victoria whispered,
“That can't be.”
Julian nodded.
“Emily was my sister.”
Sarah stared.
“My mother never told me that.”
“She was protecting you.”
“From what?”
Julian looked at Victoria.
“From people like her.”
Victoria's expression hardened.
“You're accusing me?”
Julian reached into his jacket.
He pulled out an old photograph.
A young Emily stood beside a man.
Sarah stared.
“That is my mother.”
Julian nodded.
“And that man?”
Sarah looked closely.
Her eyes widened.
She recognized him.
“That's Leo's father.”
Julian said nothing.
Sarah felt dizzy.
She had always believed Leo's father had died before Leo was born.
At least, that was what she had been told.
Julian looked at her.
“Who told you?”
Sarah whispered,
“Victoria.”
The room erupted in whispers.
Victoria went pale.
“I never said that.”
Sarah turned.
“You did.”
“No.”
“You told me his father had abandoned us.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Julian stared at her.
“I do.”
He turned toward the guests.
“Thirty years ago, Emily Vance discovered that Victoria was stealing money from the family foundation.”
Victoria's face changed.
“Stop.”
“Emily threatened to expose her.”
“You have no proof.”
Julian smiled coldly.
“I have plenty.”
He pulled out his phone.
An old audio recording played.
Victoria's younger voice could be heard.
“If Emily talks, she'll regret it.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
Leo began crying.
Sarah hugged him.
Julian stopped the recording.
“That was recorded the night Emily disappeared.”
Victoria whispered,
“You don't understand.”
Julian stepped closer.
“I understand perfectly.”
He looked at Sarah.
“Your mother wasn't abandoned.”
“She was silenced.”
Sarah's knees nearly gave out.
Victoria stepped toward her.
“Don't believe him.”
Sarah looked at her.
“You lied to me.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I was protecting you.”
“From the truth?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Sarah's voice hardened.
“You were protecting yourself.”
Victoria stared at her.
For the first time, the servant she had humiliated no longer looked frightened.
She looked angry.
May you like
And Julian knew something.
The truth was only beginning to surface.
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