Chapter 4 - What Julian Had Been Hiding
Julian finally agreed to speak.
Clara entered the hospital room alone.
He looked nothing like the confident man who had walked into the estate the previous evening.
He was pale.
Exhausted.
Connected to monitors.
When he saw Clara, his eyes filled with something she couldn't identify.
Shame.
Fear.
Maybe both.
“You came.”
“I needed answers.”
Julian looked toward the window.
“About Sienna?”
“About everything.”
He closed his eyes.
“I ruined everything.”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
Clara pulled a chair closer.
“You're going to tell me the truth.”
Julian was silent.
Then he whispered:
“The money wasn't supposed to disappear.”
Clara stared at him.
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
“That's not good enough.”
“I swear.”
She leaned closer.
“Six hundred and forty thousand dollars.”
Julian looked at her.
“You found out.”
“Yes.”
His face tightened.
“Then you need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever took that money believes I know where it is.”
Clara felt a chill.
“You don't?”
“No.”
“Then who does?”
Julian didn't answer.
Clara stood.
“Was it Sienna?”
“No.”
“Eleanor?”
Julian looked away.
That was answer enough.
“Your mother?”
“She knows part of it.”
“And Ethan?”
“Ethan knows nothing.”
Clara shook her head.
“Then why was his name connected to the accounts?”
Julian's voice dropped.
“Because I used his identity.”
Clara stared at him.
“You destroyed your own brother's life.”
“I thought I could fix it.”
“You thought you could fix stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
Julian covered his face.
“I was desperate.”
“For what?”
He lowered his hands.
“Debt.”
Clara had never known.
Julian had accumulated enormous private debts through investments that had collapsed.
He had borrowed against accounts.
Then borrowed more to cover the losses.
Eventually, he began moving company money.
At first, small amounts.
Then larger ones.
He convinced himself he would replace every dollar.
Until he couldn't.
“Then Sienna found out,” Clara said.
Julian nodded.
“I tried to make her stay quiet.”
“With money?”
“Yes.”
“And the affair?”
His silence lasted too long.
Clara felt her heart crack anyway.
“You did sleep with her.”
“Yes.”
She turned away.
“I'm sorry.”
“You're sorry now.”
“I hated myself every time.”
“That didn't stop you.”
“No.”
Clara wiped her eyes.
“Why didn't you touch me?”
Julian looked at her.
“Because every time I looked at you, I knew what I had done.”
For a moment, Clara said nothing.
Then she remembered the capsule.
The secret she had been carrying.
The guilt she could no longer bear.
“Julian…”
He looked at her.
“I need to tell you something.”
Before she could speak, the hospital door opened.
Detective Hale entered.
“We need to talk.”
Julian immediately became tense.
The detective looked at Clara.
“Could you wait outside?”
“No.”
Clara remained seated.
The detective sighed.
“We've received the initial toxicology report.”
Clara's heart stopped.
The report suggested Julian had been exposed to an unknown substance.
They were still waiting for confirmation.
The detective then looked at Julian.
“Did you take anything last night?”
Julian shook his head.
“No.”
“Any medication?”
“No.”
“Anything given to you by someone else?”
Julian hesitated.
“No.”
Clara felt sick.
Detective Hale's gaze moved to her.
“Mrs. Vance?”
She couldn't answer.
The detective noticed her expression.
“What is it?”
Clara finally whispered:
“I found something in his jacket.”
Julian stared at her.
“What?”
“A performance capsule.”
The detective nodded.
“We found the package.”
Clara swallowed.
“I…”
She stopped.
She couldn't say it.
Not yet.
Not with Julian watching.
Not with the detective watching.
Then the hospital alarm suddenly sounded.
A nurse rushed inside.
“Doctor!”
Julian's monitors began beeping.
Everyone moved at once.
Clara was pushed into the hallway.
The doors closed.
She stood there trembling.
Detective Hale approached.
“Mrs. Vance, I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”
Clara looked at him.
Before she could answer, another detective came running down the corridor.
“We found the source.”
“What source?”
“The missing money.”
Everyone froze.
He handed Detective Hale a file.
“The $640,000 wasn't stolen through the company accounts.”
“Then where did it come from?”
The detective looked at Clara.
“It came from a private trust.”
“Whose trust?”
The detective hesitated.
“Yours.”
Clara felt the hallway tilt.
“My what?”
“Six years ago, before you married Julian, an inheritance was placed into a trust under your name.”
Clara stared at him.
“I never had an inheritance.”
“Yes, you did.”
The detective opened the file.
“Someone emptied it.”
Clara looked at the date.
Six years earlier.
The exact year she married Julian.
Then she saw the signature authorizing the transfer.
Her own name.
Clara whispered:
“That isn't my signature.”
And suddenly the entire story changed.
Because the money everyone had been fighting over...
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Had never belonged to the Vance family.
It had belonged to Clara all along.
