something inside him shifted.
Because suddenly—
memories didn’t feel right anymore.
The doctor.
The timing.
The report.
Too clean.
Too final.
Too convenient.
“Eliza…”
Her voice softened.
Not forgiving.
But honest.
“I found out I was pregnant three weeks after I left.”
His heart slammed.
“I tried to call you.”
“I never got anything.”
“I know,” she said.
“Because your family made sure you didn’t.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
“They intercepted everything,” she continued. “Calls. Emails. Messages. I even went to your office once.”
Julian’s head snapped up.
“What?”
“Your assistant told me you didn’t want to see me.”
His stomach dropped.
Because he had never said that.
Not once.
“They told me you had moved on,” she said. “That you didn’t believe the babies were yours. That you didn’t want anything to do with us.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I know that now.”
A beat.
