Chapter 3 - The Pregnant Woman Julian Found at Midnight Was Not Kate—And Her Message Changed Everything
The clinic was dark.
One light burned over the entrance.
Julian entered with two men behind him.
The receptionist jumped.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Kate Cross.”
The woman checked the computer.
“I can't give out patient information.”
Julian put a photograph on the desk.
“My wife.”
The receptionist glanced at it.
Then shook her head.
“She isn't here.”
Julian's jaw tightened.
“Someone sent me this address.”
“I don't know why.”
He almost turned away.
Then he heard something.
A baby crying.
Not from inside the clinic.
From the parking lot.
Julian rushed outside.
A woman stood beside a car.
Pregnant.
Shaking.
Blood stained the sleeve of her coat.
She looked at him.
“You're Julian Cross.”
“Yes.”
She handed him a phone.
“Kate told me to give you this.”
“Where is she?”
The woman shook her head.
“She came here three nights ago.”
“What happened?”
“She was followed.”
Julian's face hardened.
“By whom?”
“We don't know.”
“Where did she go?”
“She wouldn't tell me.”
“Why?”
“She said you would find her.”
The woman pressed the phone into his hand.
“There's a video.”
Julian watched.
Kate appeared on screen.
Her face was pale.
Her hair pulled back.
She looked exhausted.
“Julian.”
He stopped breathing.
“If you're watching this, it means you found the clinic.”
A pause.
“I don't want you to panic.”
He almost laughed.
He was already panicking.
“I need you to understand something.”
Kate looked directly into the camera.
“I didn't leave because I stopped loving you.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“I left because I stopped recognizing myself.”
A tear slid down her cheek.
“I've spent years making excuses for you.”
“For your family.”
“For your work.”
“For the people you protect.”
“And every time I needed you, I told myself I was being selfish.”
Julian's hands tightened around the phone.
“I don't want our son to grow up thinking love means waiting for someone who never arrives.”
The video ended.
Julian stood frozen.
The woman beside him spoke.
“She left with someone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Man or woman?”
“Woman.”
“Description.”
“Dark hair. Blue coat.”
Julian immediately called Marcus.
“Find every vehicle leaving this area tonight.”
“Already working.”
“Women only?”
“Boss?”
“Just do it.”
An hour later, Marcus arrived.
“Blue sedan.”
Julian turned.
“Where?”
“Highway north.”
“How far?”
“Three hours ahead.”
Julian's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Julian Cross.”
A man's voice spoke.
“You've been looking in the wrong direction.”
“Who are you?”
“Someone trying to keep your wife alive.”
Julian's blood froze.
“Where is she?”
“She knows about the account.”
“What account?”
“The one your family buried fifteen years ago.”
Julian's expression changed.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ask your father.”
The call ended.
Julian immediately drove home.
His father was waiting.
An old man sat in the library.
Samuel Cross.
Former kingmaker.
The man who had taught Julian how to control people.
“How is Kate?”
Julian stared.
“You knew.”
Samuel did not answer.
“You knew she was leaving.”
“She spoke to your mother.”
Julian stepped closer.
“What account?”
His father's face changed.
“You've been digging.”
“Answer me.”
“Leave this alone.”
Julian slammed his hand on the desk.
“Where is my wife?”
Samuel looked at him.
“You have no idea what she has walked into.”
“What did you do?”
“I protected this family.”
“By threatening her?”
“No.”
“By making her disappear?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Samuel took a breath.
“Your grandfather built this organization around three families.”
Cross.
Arden.
Vale.
The alliance had lasted decades.
Until one betrayal.
“Who betrayed whom?”
Samuel looked at him.
“Your grandfather stole something.”
“What?”
“A trust account.”
Julian frowned.
“What does that have to do with Kate?”
“The account was created for a child.”
“Whose child?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Your mother had a sister.”
Julian stared.
“What?”
“She died thirty years ago.”
“And?”
“She left behind a daughter.”
A cold feeling moved through him.
“Who?”
Samuel did not answer.
Julian already knew.
“No.”
Samuel nodded.
“The girl survived.”
“Where is she?”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“She became Kate's mother.”
Silence.
Julian stopped breathing.
“My wife is part of the Arden family?”
“Yes.”
The Arden family had been an enemy of the Cross family for decades.
Kate had never known.
Her mother had hidden the truth.
And the trust account?
It contained ownership rights to a network of legal companies worth hundreds of millions.
Money wasn't the real danger.
Control was.
“If Kate signs those documents,” Samuel said, “the entire balance shifts.”
“To her?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because whoever controls the trust controls both families.”
Julian finally understood.
Kate had not simply been disappearing from him.
She had been running from a war she didn't know existed.
His phone vibrated.
A message.
One photograph.
Kate standing outside a train station.
The timestamp was twenty minutes old.
Beneath the image:
She's heading north.
Julian stared.
“Marcus.”
“Yes?”
“Get the plane.”
“Where?”
May you like
Julian looked at the photograph.
“North.”
Related Stories
