Demanding answers.
Instead, I simply stared.
He looked terrible.
His face was thinner.
Dark circles sat beneath his eyes.
His hair was longer than I remembered.
But he was still Julian.
And once I saw him beside Ivy, there was no question where her features had come from.
Same curls.
Same chin.
Same impossible eyes.
One blue.
One almost black.
His gaze fell to Ivy.
His whole face changed.
Then he looked at me.
“Claire.”
I had rehearsed a hundred accusations.
Only one question came out.
“How long did you know who I was?”
He understood immediately.
“From the bookstore.”
My chest tightened.
“So you went there because of me.”
“I saw your name on the event announcement.”
He swallowed.
“I didn’t know for certain until I saw you.”
“Then you recognized me.”
“You had Rachel’s face.”
I laughed once, bitterly.
“The red bicycle.”
His gaze dropped.
“All those questions.”
“I know.”
“You already knew the answers.”
“Yes.”
“For two years, Julian.”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
He glanced toward Richard.
“Of what you would see when you learned who my father was.”
I stepped closer.
“So instead, you let me fall in love with you without knowing half the story.”
Pain moved across his face.
“I know.”
“And then I got pregnant.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“And you disappeared.”
“I didn’t leave because I didn’t want you.”
My voice cracked.
“You left. I really don’t care what you called it while you were doing it.”
“Claire—”
“I spent thirteen days alone beside our daughter in intensive care.”
His face crumpled.
I continued.
“I went through pregnancy without you. Labor without you. I filled out her paperwork without you. When the doctors asked about family medical history, I had to say I didn’t know because her father had vanished.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That is not an explanation.”
Julian looked toward his father.
Then back at me.
“The night you told me you were pregnant, I came here.”
My skin prickled.
“Why?”
“Because I knew I couldn’t keep hiding the past anymore.”
He drew a shaky breath.
“I forced him to tell me everything he had done to your mother.”
Richard spoke from the doorway.
“He already knew most of it.”
Julian ignored him.
“Then Dad offered me a deal.”
I stared.
“What deal?”
“My grandfather left me a trust.”
“How much?”
“About one-point-six million dollars.”
I almost laughed from disbelief.
“And your father controlled it.”
“Until I reached the age specified in the trust or until he voluntarily transferred control earlier.”
Richard’s face gave away nothing.
Julian continued.
“He told me he would sign everything over immediately on one condition.”
My stomach tightened.
“What condition?”
Julian looked directly at me.
“That I stay away from you until after the baby was born.”
Silence.
For several seconds, I honestly thought I had misunderstood.
Then I whispered,
“And you agreed.”
Julian didn’t hide from it.
“Yes.”
Something inside me broke all over again.
