Chapter 10 - JULIAN KNEW CHLOE WAS BREAKING THINGS
Julian asked to meet before the next scheduled legal conference.
Priya advised Elena she did not need to.
Elena went anyway.
Public restaurant.
Afternoon.
Rachel two tables away.
Julian looked exhausted.
No navy suit.
No family polish.
Just a charcoal sweater and a man who had slept badly for weeks.
Elena placed copies of the emails on the table.
“What does ‘I can get her there after the wedding’ mean?”
Julian looked at them.
“Integration.”
“I know the word. Explain the plan.”
He stared through the window.
“Hawthorne was losing corporate business.”
“Because Chloe was bad at her job?”
“She wasn’t bad.”
“Was she good?”
He said nothing.
Elena waited.
Finally:
“She was inconsistent.”
“And your mother wouldn’t remove her.”
“No.”
“So you needed Mercer Table.”
“We needed growth.”
“You priced buying my company.”
“Yes.”
“Too expensive?”
“Yes.”
“So once I became your wife, you figured you didn’t need to buy it.”
Julian looked up sharply.
“That’s not fair.”
“Then make it fair.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I thought we would eventually combine operations because it made sense.”
“For whom?”
“For both of us.”
“Then why hide the valuation?”
“Because it happened before we were engaged.”
“Why hide the lead exports?”
His face tightened.
“Elena—”
“Why tell Mia I approved access I didn’t approve?”
“I knew you’d say no before the wedding.”
The sentence landed quietly.
Elena almost appreciated its honesty.
Then she asked the question she feared most.
“When did you know Chloe was sabotaging my events?”
Julian’s eyes moved.
That was enough.
“How long?”
“I didn’t know she was sabotaging.”
“How long?”
“I suspected after the Rittenhouse wedding.”
Four months before their marriage.
Elena felt suddenly cold.
“What did you suspect?”
“That she changed the rental count.”
“And?”
“I confronted her.”
“What did she say?”
“That she made a mistake.”
“Did you believe her?”
“No.”
Elena stared.
Julian continued quickly.
“I told her if it happened again, I’d remove her access.”
“The museum fundraiser happened after that.”
“I know.”
“The seafood delivery?”
He looked down.
“I know.”
“You knew.”
“I knew she was interfering. I didn’t know how much.”
“And you left her access.”
“My mother said removing her would make Chloe spiral.”
Elena laughed once.
It came out broken.
“So you let me absorb it.”
“I thought if Mercer Table moved deeper into Hawthorne systems, I could control what Chloe touched.”
“By taking more control from me.”
“No—”
“That was the plan.”
The three clues finally locked together.
Julian granting Chloe admin access behind Elena’s back.
Julian using Mercer Table’s failures to push integration.
Julian’s comment that marriage would change Elena’s leverage.
Chloe’s sabotage had not been a secret he was desperately trying to discover.
It was damage he had tolerated because the damage supported the outcome he wanted.
Elena’s company looked less reliable.
Hawthorne looked more necessary.
Chloe kept her job.
Eleanor remained satisfied.
Julian gained influence over Mercer Table without paying $1.8 million to acquire it.
“Did you marry me for the company?”
Julian looked horrified.
“No.”
Elena believed him.
That hurt more.
He reached across the table.
She moved her hand.
“I loved you.”
“Past tense?”
“I love you.”
Elena looked at him.
“That’s worse, Julian.”
His eyes filled.
“You loved me and still decided my work could be damaged because eventually you’d fix it your way.”
“I thought I could protect everything.”
“No.”
Elena stood.
“You protected your sister from consequences, your mother from disappointment, your company from paying what mine was worth, and yourself from having to choose.”
Julian looked up.
“What about us?”
Elena folded the emails.
“You used us to make all of that easier.”
She walked away.
May you like
The slap had ended the illusion of safety.
The truth about Chloe ended the marriage.
