Chapter 7 - Julian Finally Asks Why
Julian found Valerie in the mansion library.
She was standing beside the tall windows, holding Arthur's letter.
“You knew.”
Valerie turned.
“Knew what?”
“My grandfather trusted you.”
Valerie said nothing.
Julian held up the letter.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Would you have believed me?”
He looked away.
“I don't know.”
“Exactly.”
Julian's voice broke slightly.
“My mother said you were trying to steal the estate.”
“I didn't need to steal it.”
He looked at her.
“It was already mine.”
The words hit him harder than he expected.
“Then why work here?”
Valerie's eyes moved toward the ballroom.
“Because I wanted to see who you were when you thought I was powerless.”
Julian swallowed.
“And?”
“You were worse than I expected.”
He flinched.
“I never hurt you.”
“No.”
Valerie looked directly at him.
“But you watched.”
Julian couldn't answer.
He remembered Miranda insulting employees.
He remembered Valerie being ordered around.
He remembered laughing once when Miranda called her invisible.
He hadn't known.
But ignorance wasn't innocence anymore.
“I can help you,” he said.
Valerie shook her head.
“You need to help yourself.”
“How?”
“Tell the truth.”
Julian stared at her.
“My mother will destroy me.”
“She already did.”
He looked down.
Valerie placed the folder on the table.
“There's another reason your family needs to stop.”
“What?”
“The properties you're trying to sell aren't the only assets affected.”
Julian looked up.
“What else?”
Valerie's expression became colder.
“The Sterling Foundation.”
His face changed.
The foundation held millions.
Money donated under Arthur's name.
Money that Miranda had secretly redirected.
Julian whispered, “That's impossible.”
Valerie opened the folder.
May you like
“It isn't.”
👉 And when Julian saw where the foundation's money had really gone, he realized his family had crossed a line even he couldn't defend.
