Chapter 4 - The Divorce Papers on the Hospital Bed
Julian arrived at the hospital with three lawyers.
That was the morning I stopped being his wife.
One attorney carried a black leather case.
Another carried a stack of documents.
Martin Greer, the man Julian had called before the ambulance, walked in last.
He was gray-haired, expensive, and calm.
He gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Mrs. Sterling.”
I looked at him.
“You're the fix.”
Martin's face changed slightly.
Julian stepped forward.
“Claire.”
I held up my hand.
“Don't.”
Dad stood behind me.
Martin opened his case.
“Mr. Sterling is requesting a temporary financial conservatorship.”
I stared at him.
“Because my child died?”
“Because your medical condition is serious.”
“My medical condition is grief.”
“Your husband believes you're emotionally unstable.”
I laughed.
It was not a happy sound.
“Then your client shouldn't have made me that way.”
Julian looked at Dad.
“This is harassment.”
Dad said nothing.
I looked at Martin.
“I want my own attorney.”
“Of course.”
“I already have one.”
He looked surprised.
“Who?”
I handed Dad the phone.
He called a number.
A woman answered.
“Elena Ward.”
Dad smiled faintly.
“It's time.”
Twenty minutes later, Elena walked into the room.
She wore a navy suit and carried one folder.
She was a former federal prosecutor.
She had represented Bennett Industrial Group in several major cases.
And she knew exactly who Julian Sterling was.
She set her folder down.
“Mr. Greer.”
Martin stiffened.
“Elena.”
“You're still cleaning other people's messes?”
“I'm working.”
“So am I.”
Julian stepped between them.
“Let's keep this professional.”
Elena looked at him.
“Then stop filing fraudulent petitions.”
Silence.
She opened her folder.
“We have medical records showing Mrs. Sterling was sober.”
Another page.
“Video evidence disproving the stair-fall story.”
Another.
“Audio evidence showing your client discussing an acceleration plan.”
Julian's face went pale.
Martin looked at him.
“You didn't tell me about audio.”
Julian turned.
“Because I didn't know.”
Elena smiled.
“That is unfortunate.”
Then she pulled out one final document.
A photograph.
Julian and Victoria in front of a private office.
Date-stamped six months earlier.
“You bought her company,” Elena said.
Julian stared.
“What does that have to do with this?”
“Everything.”
She placed the acquisition records on the table.
“You used three shell companies to hide the transaction.”
Martin stood.
“You have evidence of this?”
“Yes.”
“Is it admissible?”
Elena smiled.
“That depends on the hearing.”
Julian finally lost his composure.
“You think money can't solve this?”
Dad answered.
“Not this time.”
Julian looked at me.
“Claire, listen to me.”
I did.
For the first time in years, I let him speak without defending him.
He said he loved me.
He said he was grieving.
He said he had made mistakes.
He said he never intended for Noah to die.
He said the shove had been accidental.
Then he said the sentence that destroyed whatever was left of my sympathy.
“Think about what happens if you destroy my life.”
I stared at him.
“You're still threatening me.”
He stopped.
“You can't even stop yourself.”
I pulled off my wedding ring.
I placed it on the hospital tray.
“You did that yourself.”
He looked at the ring.
Then at me.
“Claire.”
“This marriage is over.”
“You don't get to decide that.”
“I already did.”
Elena picked up the ring.
“Actually, she does.”
Julian left.
Martin stayed behind.
He looked exhausted.
“Mrs. Sterling.”
I glanced at him.
“Did you know what he intended?”
He was silent.
That was answer enough.
“You helped him.”
“I advised him legally.”
“You told him to say I drank.”
Martin closed his eyes.
“I told him to preserve his legal position.”
“And when did preserving his legal position become inventing a crime?”
He had no answer.
He eventually left.
Later that afternoon, Elena showed me another file.
“Your father wants you to see this.”
I opened it.
My original prenuptial agreement.
There was a clause I had never seen.
A hidden clause.
If Julian was found responsible for intentional harm against me or our child, all assets placed in his name using marital funds would revert to a trust controlled by me.
I looked at Dad.
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because Julian insisted his attorney review the agreement privately.”
Elena nodded.
“He wanted you to believe you had no leverage.”
I felt something inside me shift.
Power had always seemed like something Julian carried.
Maybe it had been sitting in documents all along.
That night, I asked Victoria to meet me privately.
She came.
“I need to know everything,” I said.
She nodded.
“Then you need to know about the fourth person.”
“What fourth person?”
“Julian, Martin, me, and your husband's mother.”
I frowned.
“She's dead.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I know.”
She opened a video file.
A woman appeared onscreen.
Older.
Elegant.
Familiar.
I stared.
“That isn't possible.”
Victoria whispered, “It is.”
The woman was alive.
And she had been meeting Julian in secret.
My husband's mother, Evelyn Sterling, had staged her own disappearance from the family business.
She had not died.
She had gone underground after discovering her son was stealing millions.
And now she was ready to speak.
But before we could contact her, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice said, “Claire, your father can't protect you from what Julian knows about Noah.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does he know?”
“He knows the baby wasn't supposed to be his.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Dad took it from me.
“What happened?”
I looked at him.
“Dad…”
“What?”
I could barely breathe.
“What if Julian believed Noah wasn't his?”
May you like
Dad's face hardened.
“Then we need to find out why.”
