Chapter 5 - Julian Tried to Win Me Back by Claiming Serena Had Been Forced Into the Betrayal—Then He Revealed the One Thing That Made Me Stop Trusting My Own SisterJulian asked to meet.
I almost refused.
Nikolai told me:
“Meet him.”
“Why?”
“Because desperate men talk.”
We met at a private restaurant.
Julian looked exhausted.
“Evelyn.”
“Julian.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You humiliated me in front of three hundred people.”
“I was pressured.”
“By whom?”
He looked down.
“Your father.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your father told me if I didn't marry Serena, your family's shares would disappear.”
“You agreed.”
“Yes.”
“And the dress?”
“He wanted the announcement to be dramatic.”
I laughed.
“So humiliating me was strategy.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were becoming suspicious.”
I froze.
“Of what?”
“Your mother's inheritance.”
“What did you know?”
“Everything.”
He handed me a file.
Inside were records.
The trust.
The bloodline.
The testing.
And one thing I had never known.
My mother hadn't died naturally.
The medical report had been altered.
She had been poisoned.
I stared.
“Who?”
Julian looked terrified.
“Your father.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Why?”
“Because she wanted to tell you the truth.”
I sat down.
My father had killed my mother.
And then spent years controlling me.
Serena entered the restaurant.
She had followed him.
She began crying.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew enough.”
She shook her head.
“I thought Julian loved me.”
“You stole my future.”
“I was tired of always being second.”
I stared at her.
“You were never second.”
She didn't answer.
“You were my sister.”
She cried.
“I wanted what you had.”
I stood.
“You wanted what people thought I had.”
The difference mattered.
Then Nikolai entered.
He looked at Julian.
“You're done.”
Julian reached for a weapon.
Nikolai moved first.
Security restrained him.
Police arrived.
Julian was arrested.
Serena remained.
She looked at me.
“I never meant for Mom to die.”
I stared.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
I believed her.
May you like
But believing her didn't mean forgiving her.
Not yet.
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