Chapter 3 - Julian Knew The Pregnancy Was Fake
Cesare removed Julian from the gala that night.
Not physically.
Legally.
Three bodyguards escorted Vanessa, Ethan, and Diane to separate rooms while Cesare’s attorney arrived.
Julian stayed behind.
Cesare stood beneath the shifting blue aquarium light with the fake belly placed on a table between them.
“How long?”
Julian stared at the carpet.
“Dad—”
“How long have you known?”
Silence.
Cesare stepped closer.
“Six months?”
Julian finally looked up.
“Four.”
Cesare’s stomach turned.
“So the first two months, you believed she was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“She told me she’d lost the baby.”
Cesare went still.
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
“And instead of telling the family?”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“We were already too deep into it.”
“Too deep into what?”
“The trust announcement. The donor campaign. Mom had already started planning the baby wing.”
Cesare stared at him.
There was no mother.
Diane was Vanessa’s mother, not Julian’s.
But she had indeed helped turn the supposed pregnancy into a centerpiece of the Hale Foundation’s public future.
Vanessa’s unborn child had become symbolism.
Continuity.
Legacy.
Family image.
Julian continued.
“She said if we announced a miscarriage, it would destroy her.”
“So you helped her fake the pregnancy.”
“I thought it would be temporary.”
“Until when?”
Julian did not answer.
That was when Cesare realized there had never been a clean exit plan.
The lie had simply grown.
May you like
And everyone around Vanessa had chosen comfort over truth.
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