Chapter 5
By midnight, the hospital suite was full again.
Not with flowers.
With lawyers.
Detectives.
Medical records.
And the quiet sound of my son breathing.
Nicholas slept beside me while a nurse checked my blood pressure for the fourth time.
“It is still high,” she said.
Mara glared at everyone in the room.
“Because she gave birth today and then dismantled a billionaire wedding.”
The nurse did not smile.
“Then perhaps tomorrow she could try resting.”
“I like her,” Mara said.
Rebecca stood near the window, speaking softly with Detective Finch.
Adrian sat in the corner, pale from adrenaline.
He had risked his career for me.
Maybe more.
I looked at him.
“Thank you.”
He shook his head.
“I should have done more sooner.”
“You did enough.”
“No,” he said. “I saw Chloe locking you out. I saw Julian letting it happen. I told myself it was politics.”
“Everyone did.”
“Not everyone loved you.”
The words hit me harder than I expected.
I looked away before tears could rise.
The door opened.
Julian stepped inside.
Mara was on her feet before he crossed the threshold.
“Absolutely not.”
He looked wrecked.
His tuxedo jacket was gone.
His bow tie hung loose.
Snow melted in his hair.
“I need to see her.”
“You need a court order and a personality transplant.”
“Mara,” I said softly.
She looked at me.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
That was why I could.
I nodded toward the chair near the door.
Julian sat.
Far from Nicholas.
Good.
For a moment, he only stared at the bassinet.
His face crumbled piece by piece.
“He’s so small.”
“He was seven pounds, two ounces.”
His mouth trembled.
“Was the birth hard?”
I almost laughed.
The question came hours too late.
Months too late.
A marriage too late.
“Yes.”
He flinched.
“Were you alone?”
“Mara was there.”
His eyes closed.
“I should have been.”
“You should have been many things.”
He bowed his head.
“I know.”
Mara crossed her arms.
“Do you?”
Julian looked at her.
“I did not know about the child.”
“You knew about the cruelty,” she snapped. “You knew about the humiliation. You knew you let your mistress and mother carve my sister out of her own life.”
His jaw tightened.
Then loosened.
He had no defense.
That was new.
Detective Finch approached.
“Mr. Sterling, you should understand this is not an informal family conversation. Anything relevant to the investigation may be requested.”
Julian nodded.
“I came to give a statement.”
Rebecca lifted her brows.
“About?”
“My mother. Chloe. The Mercer deal. And the night Elena says Chloe gave her pills.”
My pulse jumped.
He turned to me.
“I remember that night. You called me from the bathroom. You said you were bleeding.”
I could still feel the cold tile beneath my knees.
I had begged him to come home.
He had told me not to be dramatic.
“You said Chloe needed you at a donor dinner,” I said.
His face twisted.
“She told me you had been drinking. She said you were trying to sabotage the event.”
“I don’t drink.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
He swallowed.
“Yes.”
The room went quiet.
Julian pressed both hands over his face.
“I chose the story that required the least courage.”
No one comforted him.
No one should have.
Detective Finch asked, “Do you have evidence?”
Julian took out his phone.
“I found old messages from Chloe. She sent me a photo of a supplement bottle that night. She joked that Elena would finally calm down. I thought it was cruel. I didn’t think—”
He stopped.
Because the rest was obvious.
He did not think because thinking would have required protecting me.
Detective Finch took the phone.
Rebecca read the messages and went still.
“These are admissible if authenticated.”
Julian looked at me.
“I’ll give them everything.”
“Good.”
“And I’ll sign the paternity acknowledgment tonight.”
“No.”
He blinked.
“No?”
“You don’t get to rush into fatherhood because guilt finally found you.”
Pain flashed across his face.
I kept going.
“Nicholas will know who you are when it is safe. When the court decides support and custody. When I decide boundaries. Not because you walked in here with wet hair and regret.”
Mara’s eyes softened.
Julian stared at the floor.
Then he nodded.
“You’re right.”
That surprised me.
Maybe it surprised him too.
He stood slowly.
“I will cooperate. I will not contact you unless it is through Rebecca. I will not approach Nicholas without permission.”
I said nothing.
He walked to the door.
Then stopped.
“Elena.”
I looked at him.
“I called you from the cathedral because I wanted to hurt you.”
“I know.”
“I am sorry.”
The words were small.
Too small.
But for once, they were not polished.
I looked at my sleeping son.
“Be sorry in court.”
He nodded once.
Then he left.
When the door closed, I finally cried.
May you like
Not because I missed him.
Because the girl who had once loved him had been waiting a long time to hear the truth.
