Chapter 6 - The Interrogation
The next forty-eight hours were a relentless whirlwind of flashing lights, legal depositions, and social services interviews.
By order of the family court judge, Julian was formally served with divorce papers, a restraining order barring him from coming within five hundred yards of either Chloe or myself, and an immediate eviction notice from the guest house.
He didn't put up a fight. The moment the state investigators interviewed the household staff—who finally found the courage to speak up once my protection was guaranteed—and documented the security camera footage from the hallway outside the dining room showing Chloe being shoved under the table while Mia was fed roast duck, Julian’s defense completely evaporated.
He tried to plead temporary insanity. He tried to claim grief over Sarah’s death.
The judge didn't even blink before granting me sole physical and legal custody of Chloe, while temporarily placing little Mia under the protective custody of the state Department of Children and Family Services pending an evaluation of her extended maternal relatives.
On the third afternoon, I sat in my home office reviewing the final asset recovery statements when a soft knock sounded at the open door.
I looked up.
Julian stood in the doorway. He looked smaller, broken, his expensive tailored suit wrinkled and unwashed. He had managed to slip past the estate security gates using an old visitor code before it was deactivated.
"What are you doing here, Julian?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm as I rested my pen on the desk. "You are violating a court-ordered restraining order. Do you want me to call the sheriff right now?"
Julian stepped inside slowly, his hands trembling. He didn't look angry; he looked defeated.
"I just... I wanted to see her," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I wanted to see Chloe."
"You lost that right the moment you let your mother shove her under a dining room table and starve," I answered, standing up from my desk to tower over him. "You didn't protect your 'other daughter,' Julian. You abandoned your real one, and you destroyed whatever humanity was left in you to protect your own ego."
"Sarah didn't want to ruin us," Julian said, tears spilling over his lower eyelids. "She swore to me that if I helped support Mia quietly, she’d never bother us. But when she died... I panicked. Mom convinced me that if you found out, you’d divorce me and take everything. She told me to hide Mia in plain sight, to make Chloe invisible so you wouldn't notice another child in the house."
I let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "And you listened to her. You sacrificed your own flesh and blood because your mother told you to."
"I was weak," Julian choked out, sinking into the chair opposite my desk, burying his face in his hands. "I lost everything, Elena. My job at Vance Holdings fired me the second the embezzlement freeze hit the news. Mom is threatening to disown me for ruining her living arrangements. I have nothing."
"You have exactly what you built, Julian," I said, walking around the desk to stand right before him. "Nothing more, nothing less. Now, get out of my house before I press charges for trespassing."
He looked up, his eyes bloodshot and desperate. "Is there... is there any chance we can fix this? After six years?"
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"There was a chance six years ago when we took our vows," I replied quietly. "You chose a lie. Now live with the consequences."
He stood up slowly, knowing there was no fight left in him. Without another word, he turned around and walked out of the study, the sound of his footsteps echoing down the hallway until the front door clicked shut behind him.
