Chapter 2 - The Truth Behind Julian
Two hours later, Blake was pacing the length of his penthouse suite at the Peninsula Hotel, his necktie loosened, his glass of scotch untouched on the glass coffee table.
Sitting across from him was Samuel Vance, his chief head of security and private investigator—the same man Blake had hired five years ago to track Emma's phone logs.
"I want everything, Samuel," Blake barked, his face flushed red. "I want to know where she lived, where she gave birth, who paid for her medical bills, and who Julian is! I want it on my desk in twenty minutes!"
Samuel didn't pull out a tablet. He slowly reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a thick, yellowed manila folder.
"I don't need twenty minutes, Blake," Samuel said quietly, his voice heavy with a regret he had clearly carried for years. "I've had this file in my safe for four years."
Blake stopped pacing. "What are you talking about?"
"Five years ago, when you ordered me to investigate those text messages from 'Julian,' you gave me twenty-four hours before you signed the divorce papers," Samuel explained, setting the folder on the table. "You were so angry, so convinced she was sleeping with another man, that you refused to wait for my final background report."
Blake’s breath caught in his throat. "What final report?"
Samuel opened the folder, sliding a printed medical chart across the table.
"Julian wasn't her lover, Blake," Samuel said softly. "Dr. Julian Vance was the chief geneticist at the Mayo Clinic."
Blake stared at the document. The header bore the official seal of the Mayo Reproductive Health Department.
"Two weeks before your divorce," Samuel continued, pointing at the dates, "Emma was diagnosed with severe early-stage cervical cellular dysplasia. She was undergoing emergency hormone treatments to preserve her fertility. She kept it a secret from you because you were in the middle of launching your company's initial public offering, and she didn't want to stress you."
Blake felt the room spin. The text messages he had found on her phone flashed through his mind: ‘The test results are in. We need to meet privately tomorrow before Blake finds out. Time is running out for the procedure.’
"She wasn't cheating on you," Samuel whispered. "She was trying to save her ability to give you a family. When you threw her out, she went straight to a clinic in Minnesota, cleared the precancerous tissue, and discovered she was carrying triplets—conceived during your last week together in New York."
Blake fell back into a leather armchair, his hands covering his face as a ragged, choked sob escaped his throat.
Every cruel word he had screamed at her in that penthouse echoed in his ears. He had accused her of selling out his company secrets to competitors, of sleeping with another man in their bed, of being a gold-digger who only cared about his stock portfolio.
And through it all, she had been carrying his three sons, fighting cancer alone in a hospital room in Minnesota, without taking a single dollar of his money.
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"Where is she now, Samuel?" Blake rasped, tears leaking through his fingers. "Where is my family?"
"She’s the Vice President of Environmental Innovation at Miller-Tech Chicago," Samuel replied. "And Blake... she’s engaged."
