Chapter 3 - Aunt Serena
Elena carried Ethan into an empty crew lounge and asked a trusted colleague, Mara, to stay with him for twenty minutes.
Ethan protested.
“I want Mommy.”
“I’ll be right outside.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Julian watched the tenderness between them and felt something inside him twist.
Five birthdays.
Five Christmas mornings.
Five years of fevers, first words, scraped knees, bedtime stories.
All gone.
Not because a court removed him.
Because somebody had built a wall of lies and both he and Elena had stopped trying to climb it.
Once Ethan was settled, Elena closed the lounge door.
Julian faced Serena.
“How does he know you?”
Serena’s chin lifted.
“I visited Elena once.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Why?”
“She was threatening to expose everything.”
Elena stared at her.
“I was asking you to stop interfering.”
Julian’s voice sharpened.
“Explain.”
Elena took a breath.
“When Ethan was six months old, Serena came to my apartment.”
Julian looked at Serena.
“You went to her home?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
The answer was almost automatic.
Julian’s face hardened.
“From my infant son?”
“From scandal. From chaos. From Elena dragging you back into something toxic.”
Elena stepped forward.
“I never asked him to take me back.”
“No,” Serena said. “You just kept sending letters about a baby.”
“A baby who was his.”
“We didn’t know that.”
“You knew exactly when he was conceived.”
Serena’s eyes narrowed.
“That proves nothing.”
Julian felt sick.
“What happened during that visit?”
Elena answered.
“She brought a document.”
“What document?”
“A proposed private support agreement.”
Serena shook her head.
“That is a dramatic way to describe it.”
“What was it?” Julian demanded.
Elena continued.
“It offered me a lump sum if I agreed not to contact you, not to use the Vance name for Ethan, and not to seek legal paternity.”
Julian stared at Serena.
“You offered her money?”
“It was your family’s money.”
“My family knew?”
Serena hesitated.
Then:
“Your mother did.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Of course.
His mother, Celeste Vance, had hated Elena by the end of their marriage. She called her emotional, unpredictable, unsuitable for the Vance public image.
But Celeste had never once mentioned a pregnancy.
“Did my mother know Ethan existed?”
“Yes,” Serena said.
The word cracked something open.
Julian walked several steps away before turning back.
“How many people knew I had a son except me?”
Serena did not answer.
Elena did.
“At least three.”
“Who?”
“You already know Serena and your mother.”
“And the third?”
Elena looked down.
“Your attorney.”
Julian felt his chest tighten.
“Michael Grant?”
She nodded.
“He sent me the final divorce packet with a separate confidentiality page attached.”
“I never authorized that.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because I refused to sign it. And later, when I finally hired my own attorney, she said the page wasn’t part of our court order.”
Julian rubbed his forehead.
Five years earlier, Michael Grant had been not just his attorney but a family friend.
Julian called him immediately.
The phone rang four times.
Then voicemail.
He called again.
No answer.
Serena stepped toward him.
“This is becoming insane. Elena could be exaggerating any of this.”
Julian looked at her.
“Then why are you afraid?”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Serena’s composure finally cracked.
“I was trying to stop you from destroying yourself over a woman who already destroyed your marriage!”
Elena went still.
Julian stared at Serena.
“What did Elena do?”
Serena scoffed.
“You saw the hotel photos.”
“Yes.”
“Exactly.”
Elena interrupted.
“What hotel photos?”
Julian looked at her.
“The ones showing you meeting Marcus Hale.”
Elena blinked.
“Marcus was my attorney.”
Julian froze.
“What?”
“He was advising me because I thought your company was hiding marital assets.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know that now.”
Serena looked between them.
Then Julian remembered something.
The pictures Serena had shown him never actually showed Elena touching Marcus.
They showed her entering a hotel café.
Serena had said Marcus was a former boyfriend.
Julian had never verified.
His own jealousy filled in the rest.
“Elena,” he said slowly, “what did Serena tell you about me?”
Elena’s mouth tightened.
“That you were sleeping with her.”
Serena laughed.
“We eventually were.”
“Before the divorce,” Elena said. “She told me you already were.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“We weren’t.”
Elena stared at him.
For five years she had believed otherwise.
Julian looked at Serena.
“Did you fabricate both stories?”
Serena backed up.
“No.”
“Then prove it.”
“I don’t owe you—”
A yacht employee entered hurriedly.
“Mr. Vance?”
Julian turned.
“There’s a call for you through the satellite office. A Mr. Michael Grant. He says it’s urgent.”
Julian’s pulse spiked.
He picked up the line.
Michael’s voice sounded twenty years older than Julian remembered.
“Julian, listen carefully. If Serena is with you, do not confront her alone.”
Julian looked directly at Serena.
“Why?”
Michael inhaled.
May you like
“Because five years ago, your mother paid me to keep Elena’s pregnancy out of the divorce file.”
Cliffhanger: Julian’s own former attorney admitted that his mother had paid to suppress Elena’s pregnancy during the divorce—and warned Julian not to confront Serena alone.
