CHAPTER 6 — THE FALSE PREGNANCY
CHAPTER 6 — THE FALSE PREGNANCY
The first thing Julian noticed when the lights returned was the silence.
Not ordinary silence.
The kind that comes after a scream.
Every person in the room seemed to be holding their breath.
Martha stood beside the window, staring at the woman outside.
Richard had not moved.
Bianca was frozen near the desk.
And Julian was staring at the words written on the back of the photograph.
THE ACCOUNT IS YOURS.
His father's handwriting.
He knew it.
He had seen it on birthday cards, business letters, Christmas notes, and the old leather journal Victor kept locked in his office.
There was no mistaking it.
Julian turned slowly toward Richard.
“What does that mean?”
Richard's expression remained blank.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“Julian—”
“You knew about Horizon.”
Richard said nothing.
“You knew my father was alive.”
“No.”
“You knew my grandfather created the account.”
“I knew there was an account.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Richard stepped closer.
“You're emotional.”
Julian laughed.
A short, humorless sound.
“My mother was nearly drowned tonight. My fiancée admitted she was planning to marry me, inherit this house, and wait for my mother to die. Someone just transferred two million dollars into an account using Bianca's name. And now a woman who supposedly died twenty years ago is standing outside my house.”
He pointed toward the window.
“And you're telling me I'm emotional?”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“I'm telling you that panic will make you stupid.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Richard looked at him.
For a moment, Julian thought his uncle might finally confess.
Instead, Richard said:
“You're not ready.”
Julian stepped forward.
“That's what everyone keeps saying.”
His voice dropped.
“But somehow everyone else is always ready to lie to me.”
A knock sounded against the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Martha flinched.
Julian looked toward the entrance.
“Stay here.”
He walked through the foyer.
Richard followed.
Bianca stayed behind.
Julian unlocked the door.
The woman from the photograph stood on the other side.
Up close, she looked older than the woman in the picture.
But the eyes were identical.
Sharp.
Tired.
Intelligent.
She looked at Julian for several seconds.
Then she said:
“You have your father's eyes.”
Julian's throat tightened.
“Who are you?”
She glanced behind him.
Her expression changed when she saw Richard.
“You shouldn't have brought him here.”
Julian turned.
Richard was already reaching for something inside his jacket.
Julian immediately stepped between them.
“Don't.”
Richard stopped.
The woman smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Julian looked at her.
“Are you Evelyn Laurent?”
“Yes.”
“Bianca's mother?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did everyone say you were dead?”
“Because someone needed me to be.”
Julian stared at her.
“Who?”
Evelyn looked at Richard.
“Ask your uncle.”
Richard's face hardened.
“Don't drag my family into your unfinished business.”
Evelyn laughed softly.
“Your family?”
She looked around the mansion.
“You mean the family you spent twenty years stealing from?”
Julian's eyes narrowed.
“What did you steal?”
Richard didn't answer.
Evelyn reached into her coat.
Julian tensed.
She slowly removed an envelope.
It was yellow with age.
She handed it to him.
“Your father wrote this.”
Julian took it.
His hands trembled.
“When?”
“Three days before he disappeared.”
Julian opened the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet.
He recognized the handwriting immediately.
Julian,
If you're reading this, something went wrong.
Do not trust anyone who tells you I died.
Do not trust anyone who says the Hale family fortune is clean.
Most importantly, do not marry the woman who claims to be carrying my bloodline's future.
She is lying.
Julian stopped.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
He read the final line twice.
She is lying.
Then he looked up.
Bianca was standing at the end of the hallway.
Her face had gone completely white.
Julian slowly folded the letter.
“What does this mean?”
Evelyn looked at Bianca.
“It means your fiancée's greatest secret isn't the affair.”
Bianca whispered:
“Mother…”
Evelyn's eyes hardened.
“Tell him.”
Bianca shook her head.
“No.”
Julian looked between them.
“Tell me what?”
Nobody answered.
He stepped toward Bianca.
“What are you lying about?”
She backed away.
“Julian, please.”
“What are you lying about?”
“I didn't want this.”
“What?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't want any of this.”
Julian's expression became colder.
“Then start talking.”
Bianca covered her face.
And began to cry.
Three weeks earlier, Julian had proposed.
He remembered the night perfectly.
The private restaurant.
The violinist.
The champagne.
The ring hidden inside a dessert plate.
Bianca had cried when she saw it.
Then she had thrown her arms around him.
“Yes.”
She had whispered it again and again.
“Yes, Julian.”
Two days later, she had told him she was pregnant.
Julian had been stunned.
Not unhappy.
Stunned.
They had not been planning a child.
But he had immediately promised her:
“We'll make this work.”
Bianca had cried against his chest.
“I was afraid you'd leave me.”
“Never.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Now Julian stared at her.
“Was the pregnancy real?”
Bianca couldn't meet his eyes.
“Answer me.”
She whispered:
“No.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Julian heard Martha gasp behind him.
Richard closed his eyes.
Julian stood perfectly still.
“How long?”
Bianca cried harder.
“Julian…”
“How long have you known?”
“I knew before I told you.”
“How long?”
“Three weeks.”
Julian's voice was almost inaudible.
“You were never pregnant.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Bianca looked up.
“I was desperate.”
“For what?”
“To make you marry me.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“You didn't need a pregnancy.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because you were going to leave me.”
“I was planning our wedding.”
“No.”
Bianca shook her head.
“You were planning to end the engagement.”
Julian frowned.
“I never said that.”
“You didn't have to.”
She wiped her tears.
“I saw the email.”
“What email?”
“The one you sent your lawyer.”
Julian's face changed.
His divorce lawyer?
That made no sense.
They weren't married.
Then he remembered.
The consultation.
Six months earlier.
He had hired a lawyer after discovering irregularities in his business accounts.
He had never told Bianca.
“How did you see it?”
Bianca looked away.
“Martha's secretary.”
Martha's face turned furious.
“My secretary?”
“She gave me access.”
“Why?”
Bianca didn't answer.
Evelyn did.
“Because she was paid.”
Julian looked at her.
“By whom?”
Evelyn's eyes moved toward Richard.
The room became silent again.
Julian turned.
Richard's expression was unreadable.
“You paid Martha's secretary?”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Richard didn't answer.
Julian's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman's voice said:
“Check the nursery.”
The line disconnected.
Julian frowned.
“What nursery?”
Bianca's face changed.
Julian noticed.
“You know.”
“No.”
“You know exactly what they're talking about.”
Bianca shook her head violently.
“Julian, don't.”
“Where is it?”
She said nothing.
Julian walked upstairs.
Bianca followed.
“Julian!”
He ignored her.
The house had a room they had begun renovating six months earlier.
Bianca had insisted on it.
She called it the nursery.
Julian had laughed when she first showed him the sketches.
“We don't even have children.”
She had smiled.
“We will.”
Now he opened the door.
The room was immaculate.
A white crib stood beside the window.
There were stuffed animals.
Tiny clothes.
A rocking chair.
A bookshelf.
Everything was ready.
Too ready.
Julian walked to the crib.
He touched it.
Then noticed something underneath.
A cardboard box.
He pulled it out.
Inside were medical documents.
Hospital forms.
Ultrasound images.
Prescription bottles.
Pregnancy tests.
Julian picked up an ultrasound.
The date was three weeks earlier.
The image looked real.
But something bothered him.
He turned it over.
A printed label appeared.
PATIENT: BIANCA LAURENT
He looked at the hospital name.
St. Catherine's Women's Medical Center.
Julian's stomach tightened.
He called the number printed on the document.
A receptionist answered.
“St. Catherine's Women's Medical Center.”
“I need to verify a medical record.”
“I'm sorry, sir. We can't release patient information.”
“I understand.”
He gave Bianca's name.
The receptionist paused.
Then said:
“We don't have a patient by that name.”
Julian slowly turned.
Bianca stood in the doorway.
She was crying.
“You forged everything.”
“Yes.”
“The ultrasound?”
“A friend gave it to me.”
“The hospital forms?”
“I created them.”
“The pregnancy tests?”
“Fake.”
Julian stared at her.
“Why would you go this far?”
Bianca whispered:
“Because they told me to.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
Julian stepped closer.
“Who told you?”
Bianca closed her eyes.
“Your uncle.”
Julian froze.
Richard.
Again.
Always Richard.
Richard was gone.
By the time Julian returned downstairs, his uncle had disappeared.
The front door stood open.
Evelyn watched the driveway.
“He knew you would discover it.”
Julian turned toward her.
“Why did Richard want Bianca to fake a pregnancy?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Because a child would give her legal and social leverage.”
“She wasn't pregnant.”
“She didn't need to be.”
Julian frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Your family has been preparing for succession.”
“Succession of what?”
“The Hale estate.”
Julian looked around.
“This house?”
“Everything.”
Evelyn reached into her coat again.
This time she pulled out a document.
She placed it on the table.
Julian read the heading.
HALE FAMILY SUCCESSION AGREEMENT
His name appeared first.
Then Bianca's.
Then a clause.
If Julian married Bianca and produced a legitimate heir, control of several family trusts would automatically transfer to the married couple.
Julian's eyes widened.
“But if there was no child…”
“Your uncle would retain control.”
Julian looked at Evelyn.
“So the pregnancy was supposed to force the marriage.”
“Yes.”
“And after the marriage?”
Evelyn's voice became quiet.
“Your uncle planned to remove you.”
Julian felt cold.
“Remove me how?”
She didn't answer.
Martha did.
“Death.”
Julian looked at his mother.
She was trembling.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father told me not to.”
Julian's anger surged.
“Dad told you to keep me ignorant?”
“He was protecting you.”
“By letting everyone lie to me?”
Martha began crying.
“He believed you would be safer if you knew nothing.”
Julian shook his head.
“That worked beautifully.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“There is something else.”
Julian looked at her.
“The pregnancy was only the first part.”
“What is the second?”
“Bianca was supposed to make you sign something.”
Julian frowned.
“What?”
“A prenuptial agreement.”
“I never signed one.”
“You weren't supposed to sign it before the wedding.”
Evelyn reached into the envelope.
She produced another document.
Julian read the first page.
His blood ran cold.
It wasn't a prenuptial agreement.
It was a power-of-attorney document.
If Julian became incapacitated, Bianca would receive authority over his personal assets.
But beneath that clause was something even more disturbing.
She would also gain authority over his medical decisions.
Julian stared.
“She wanted control over whether I lived.”
Evelyn said nothing.
Martha whispered:
“That is why she tried to kill me first.”
Julian looked at her.
“Because you knew?”
Martha nodded.
“Your mother was supposed to die before the wedding,” Evelyn said.
Julian's face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because Martha had the original trust documents.”
“Where are they?”
Martha looked toward the old study.
“Your father hid them.”
“Where?”
She hesitated.
“Inside the piano.”
Julian immediately walked away.
The grand piano had belonged to Victor.
Nobody had played it since his disappearance.
Julian lifted the wooden panel.
Nothing.
He checked underneath.
Still nothing.
Then he remembered something his father used to say.
Music has seven keys. Secrets have eight.
Julian pressed the eighth ivory key.
A small click sounded.
A compartment opened beneath the keyboard.
Inside was a black leather folder.
Julian removed it.
His hands were shaking.
The first page contained a list of names.
Hale family members.
Business partners.
Bankers.
Politicians.
Judges.
Doctors.
Then one name was circled in red.
RICHARD HALE.
Beneath it was a handwritten note.
He knows where the money went.
Julian turned the page.
A bank statement.
Horizon Trust.
The account balance was staggering.
$184,700,000.
Julian stared.
Martha covered her mouth.
Evelyn whispered:
“That is the money your grandfather stole.”
Julian looked at the final line.
Beneficial owner: JULIAN VICTOR HALE
He stopped breathing.
The account was not simply his.
It belonged to him.
His father's entire hidden fortune.
The money everyone had been fighting over.
The money Richard had spent decades trying to control.
The money Bianca had been ordered to secure through marriage.
Julian looked at the account number.
Then at the black key in his hand.
714.
The number suddenly made sense.
He turned the key over.
Tiny letters were engraved on the back.
HORIZON — PRIVATE VAULT 714
Julian whispered:
“My father didn't leave me a fortune.”
Evelyn corrected him.
“No.”
She looked toward the dark window.
“He left you a war.”
At that exact moment, Julian's phone vibrated.
A new message.
No number.
Just one sentence.
THE FALSE PREGNANCY WAS NEVER THE REAL PLAN.
Another message arrived.
THE REAL PLAN STARTS TOMORROW.
Then a final message.
AND BIANCA IS NOT THE PERSON YOU SHOULD FEAR.
Julian looked up.
Bianca was gone.
The front door stood open.
On the marble floor lay her engagement ring.
Beside it was a folded piece of paper.
Julian picked it up.
There were only five words.
Ask Martha about your birth.
Julian looked toward his mother.
Her face had gone completely white.
“Mom?”
Martha didn't answer.
“Why would Bianca say that?”
Martha's lips trembled.
Then she whispered:
“Because…”
She looked at Julian.
“…you are not Victor Hale's biological son.”
May you like
The room went silent.
And somewhere beneath the mansion, a hidden vault door unlocked.
