CHAPTER 10 — The Trap Julian Set for His Wife
CHAPTER 10 — The Trap Julian Set for His Wife
The room went silent after Evelyn spoke.
I stared at Julian.
He stared at me.
Neither of us moved.
Then Evelyn placed the Black Ledger on the table.
"Before you accuse him," she said quietly, "you need to understand what he did."
My voice was barely audible.
"What did he do?"
Evelyn looked at Julian.
"He built the trap."
Julian closed his eyes.
I felt something inside me crack.
"Explain."
Evelyn opened the ledger.
"Your husband knew you would eventually discover M-17."
Julian said nothing.
"He knew the account existed."
"He knew your mother left evidence."
"He knew the Black Ledger survived."
"And he knew you would come looking for it."
I turned toward Julian.
"Is that true?"
He whispered:
"Yes."
My heart sank.
"But I never wanted you hurt."
I laughed bitterly.
"You set a trap for me."
"Yes."
"And now you're telling me you didn't want me hurt?"
He looked devastated.
"I wanted to know what you knew."
"Why?"
"Because my father was watching me."
I shook my head.
"That's your excuse?"
"No."
He stepped closer.
"It's the truth."
Evelyn interrupted.
"Julian was ordered to find the ledger."
"By whom?"
"Robert."
I stared.
"Your father."
Julian nodded.
"Yes."
"And you agreed?"
"I had no choice."
I laughed.
"Everyone says that."
Julian looked at me.
"My father threatened Claire."
I froze.
"What did he have on her?"
Julian's face tightened.
"She caused an accident years ago."
"What kind?"
"She hit someone."
"Was the person killed?"
"No."
"Then why would your father use it against her?"
"Because the victim was connected to a powerful family."
I stared.
"And your father buried it."
"Yes."
"So he owned Claire."
Julian nodded.
"And then he owned you."
He looked away.
"Yes."
I understood.
But understanding didn't erase betrayal.
Evelyn opened the ledger.
"Look here."
She pointed to a page.
Names filled it.
Robert Whitmore.
Margaret Whitmore.
Adrian Cross.
Bank executives.
Lawyers.
Judges.
Then another name.
Julian Whitmore.
I stared.
Beside his name was a date.
2019.
And an amount.
$2,500,000.
My hands trembled.
"What is this?"
Julian answered.
"Payment."
"For what?"
"Protection."
"From whom?"
"My father."
I looked at the ledger again.
There were more entries.
Every year.
Payments.
Julian had been receiving money from Robert.
I looked at him.
"You told me you were trapped."
"I was."
"You were also being paid."
"Yes."
I shook my head.
"So you weren't only protecting Claire."
"No."
"What else?"
He hesitated.
"Your father."
I froze.
"My father?"
"Your father paid me too."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"He wanted me to keep you safe."
Evelyn looked at him sharply.
"That's not what happened."
Julian turned.
"What do you mean?"
"You took the money."
"To protect her."
"No."
Evelyn shook her head.
"You took money from both sides."
Julian went silent.
"Your father paid you to protect Lauren."
"Robert paid you to monitor her."
"And you accepted both."
I stared at Julian.
"How much?"
He didn't answer.
"How much did they pay you?"
"About eight million."
The number hit me like a physical blow.
Eight million dollars.
My husband had been secretly receiving millions while pretending to be trapped.
I stepped away.
"Get out."
"Lauren—"
"Get out."
He didn't move.
Evelyn stood between us.
"Let him speak."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because the ledger has another page."
She turned it.
There was a final entry.
Subject: Lauren Hartwell.
Underneath:
Objective: Marriage.
My stomach dropped.
I read the next line.
Purpose: Establish legal access to beneficiary assets.
My hands went numb.
I looked at Julian.
"You married me for my money."
He shook his head.
"No."
"The ledger says otherwise."
"That was the original plan."
I stared.
"Original?"
"My father wanted me to marry you."
"Why?"
"Because if I became your husband, I could eventually obtain access to the Hartwell assets."
"And you agreed."
"At first."
I laughed.
"You didn't just betray me."
"You planned it."
He closed his eyes.
"Yes."
The room seemed to shrink.
Every memory became contaminated.
Our first meeting.
Our first date.
His proposal.
Our wedding.
The morning he humiliated me.
All of it.
I looked at him.
"When did you fall in love with me?"
He opened his eyes.
"Before the wedding."
"Before?"
"Months before."
"But you were already planning to use me."
"Yes."
I shook my head.
"So which part was real?"
"All of it."
"How can both be true?"
He stepped toward me.
"Because I started loving you before I understood what my father had turned me into."
I looked away.
"I don't believe you."
"I know."
Evelyn picked up the ledger.
"There's something else."
She opened the back cover.
A small photograph was hidden inside.
My mother.
Julian.
Me.
I was a child.
I stared.
"When was this taken?"
"2004."
I looked at Julian.
"You were there."
He nodded.
"Your mother asked me to watch you."
I frowned.
"I don't remember."
"You were five."
"Why would she trust you?"
"Because she believed I was different from my father."
I looked at Evelyn.
"Was she wrong?"
Evelyn's expression was sad.
"No."
She looked at Julian.
"Not completely."
Suddenly, the lights went out.
The room went black.
I heard Evelyn gasp.
Then glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
Julian grabbed my arm.
"Down!"
We dropped behind the table.
A loud crack echoed through the room.
Then silence.
I felt Julian's hand around mine.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
Evelyn was breathing heavily.
"Someone knew we were here."
Julian stood.
"Stay down."
He moved toward the door.
I grabbed his sleeve.
"Don't."
He looked at me.
"I'm not leaving you."
I stared at him.
For the first time that night, I believed him.
Then the emergency lights came on.
The room was empty.
Except for the ledger.
It was gone.
Evelyn looked horrified.
"They took it."
I turned toward Julian.
"You knew this would happen."
"No."
"How did they know?"
"I don't know."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Someone is tracking you."
Julian frowned.
"What?"
"Your phone."
She pointed.
I looked at his phone.
A small red indicator was blinking.
Julian immediately threw it onto the floor.
Then stepped on it.
"What is that?"
"A tracker."
My stomach turned.
"Who put it there?"
Julian stared at the broken device.
"My father."
We left through the service entrance.
The city was almost empty.
Rain had begun falling.
Julian drove.
I sat in the passenger seat.
Evelyn sat behind me.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, I said:
"Where are we going?"
Julian answered:
"Somewhere Robert doesn't know."
"Does such a place exist?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"My mother's old house."
I turned.
"Your mother?"
"She left it years ago."
"Margaret?"
"No."
He looked at me.
"My real mother."
I frowned.
"What?"
"My biological mother."
Silence.
Evelyn leaned forward.
"Julian..."
He shook his head.
"She deserves to know."
I looked at him.
"Know what?"
He swallowed.
"Margaret isn't my mother."
I stared.
"What?"
"She raised me."
"But she isn't my biological mother."
"Who is?"
He looked at Evelyn.
She nodded.
"Your mother knew."
I turned toward her.
"Who is Julian's mother?"
Evelyn whispered:
"Your mother's closest friend."
My heart stopped.
"Who?"
Evelyn hesitated.
Then said:
"Sarah Vale."
I froze.
Vale.
My mother's family name.
"Sarah was your mother's cousin."
"And Julian is..."
"Your family."
I stared at Julian.
He looked devastated.
"That's why Robert wanted you to marry him."
I whispered:
"Because we're related?"
"No."
Evelyn shook her head.
"Because Robert wanted control of both families."
We arrived at the house at 2:40 a.m.
Julian unlocked the door.
The house was old.
Dust covered everything.
But the walls were filled with photographs.
I walked slowly through the hallway.
Then I stopped.
A photograph of my mother.
Beside her stood Sarah.
And between them—
a baby.
Julian.
I stared.
He had his mother's eyes.
My mother's eyes.
The same eyes I had seen in the photograph.
I whispered:
"My mother knew you were part of the family."
"Yes."
"She knew Robert wanted us married."
"Yes."
"And she still allowed it?"
"She tried to stop it."
I looked at him.
"How?"
"She sent me a letter."
"Where is it?"
He walked toward a cabinet.
Opened it.
Inside was an envelope.
My name was written across it.
I took it.
My hands trembled.
The letter was dated three weeks before my wedding.
I opened it.
My mother's handwriting.
Lauren,
If you're reading this, I failed to stop them.
I couldn't breathe.
The next sentence was worse.
Julian will come into your life because Robert sends him.
I looked at my husband.
He lowered his head.
I kept reading.
But there is one thing Robert does not understand.
Julian is not the weapon he thinks he is.
My eyes filled with tears.
Then:
If Julian ever tells you he loves you, believe him.
I stopped.
Julian looked at me.
I continued.
But do not forgive him until he tells you the truth about the night I died.
The letter ended.
I looked at him.
"You knew about this."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of what?"
He looked at the letter.
"That if I told you everything, you'd never forgive me."
I folded the letter.
"You were right."
A loud knock came from downstairs.
Everyone froze.
Julian reached for the gun hidden beneath the cabinet.
I stared.
"You have a gun?"
"I've had one for years."
The knocking came again.
Three slow knocks.
Evelyn whispered:
"They found us."
Julian motioned for us to stay upstairs.
Then the front door opened.
A man's voice echoed through the house.
"Julian."
Robert.
My heart pounded.
Julian stepped into the hallway.
His father looked up.
"I know she's here."
Julian said nothing.
Robert smiled.
"You've made this much harder than it needed to be."
Then he looked directly at me.
"Lauren."
I stepped forward.
"What do you want?"
"The ledger."
"It's gone."
Robert smiled.
"I know."
I frowned.
"Then why are you here?"
He looked at Julian.
"Because my son has something more valuable."
Julian stiffened.
"What?"
Robert's smile disappeared.
"The truth about your mother."
Julian's face went pale.
Robert continued:
"The truth about who really killed her."
I looked at Julian.
Then at Robert.
And suddenly I realized the trap had never been about money.
It had never been about the inheritance.
It had never even been about the Black Ledger.
The real trap was the marriage.
Because Julian hadn't simply been sent to access my fortune.
He had been sent to bring me close enough to the truth that Robert could find out exactly what my mother had left behind.
And now that I had discovered it—
they no longer needed me alive.
Robert raised his hand.
Two men appeared behind him.
Julian stepped in front of me.
His father stared at him.
"Move."
"No."
Robert's expression hardened.
"You are still my son."
Julian shook his head.
"Not anymore."
Robert smiled coldly.
"Then you've made your final choice."
Julian raised the gun.
"So have you."
I stood behind him.
For the first time, I wasn't afraid of what would happen next.
Because I finally understood something.
The husband I had married had once been part of the trap.
But somewhere along the way, he had become trapped inside it too.
And now he was standing between me and the family that had controlled him his entire life.
Robert's men moved forward.
Julian tightened his grip.
Then a voice came from behind us.
"Nobody move."
Evelyn stepped into the hallway.
She was holding the Black Ledger.
Robert's face turned white.
"Where did you get that?"
Evelyn smiled.
"You taught me never to keep the thing everyone is looking for in the place they expect."
She opened the ledger.
Then looked at me.
"Lauren."
"Yes?"
"Your mother left one final instruction."
"What?"
Evelyn turned to Robert.
Then said:
"Read page 247."
Robert's face collapsed.
Julian looked confused.
I opened the ledger.
Page 247 contained only one sentence.
THE MAN WHO CONTROLS JULIAN IS NOT ROBERT.
I frowned.
Then turned the page.
A photograph fell out.
I picked it up.
My blood ran cold.
The man in the photograph was standing beside Robert.
Beside Margaret.
Beside my mother.
And beneath the photograph was a name.
ADRIAN CROSS.
But there was one detail that made my entire body freeze.
The photograph was dated twenty-seven years ago.
And Adrian Cross looked exactly the same age he did today.
I looked at Evelyn.
"Who is he?"
She whispered:
"That's the question your mother died trying to answer."
And behind us, Robert quietly smiled.
Because suddenly, he was no longer afraid.
May you like
He was waiting.
TO BE CONTINUED.
