“There’s another person whose account matters.”
Julian frowned.
The conference phone lit without displaying anything readable from where the children sat.
My attorney connected the call.
Arthur’s voice came through the speaker.
I had not heard him since the night I ran from the Sterling Mercedes.
He sounded older.
He confirmed that Evelyn’s office had instructed him to collect me from Chloe’s building and drive me directly to Greenwich.
He confirmed that I was visibly pregnant.
He confirmed that I had become ill near the estate and that he had stopped the car.
Then he said the sentence that made Julian turn toward his mother.
“After Mrs.
Sterling ran, I called the house immediately.
Mrs.
Sterling’s mother-in-law told me not to contact police.
She said the family would handle it privately.”
Evelyn’s back went rigid.
Julian stared at her.
“You told him not to call the police?”
“Anna was not missing.
She was being dramatic.”
“You didn’t know where she was.”
“We knew she had friends.
We knew she would surface.”
“Pregnant with twins,” I said.
Evelyn looked at me.
“We did not know they were twins.”
There it was.
Not concern.
Not regret.
A technical distinction.
Julian slowly turned back toward the folder.
“Did you know?” I asked him.
He did not answer immediately.
“I knew you were pregnant.”
It was the first completely plain sentence he had spoken since we arrived.
My son looked up at him.
Julian noticed and stopped talking.
My attorney disconnected Arthur’s call.
“After Anna disappeared,” she said, “we asked your counsel to provide records of any direct attempt by you to locate her for purposes of checking on her safety, arranging prenatal support, protecting the unborn child or children, or establishing a future parenting relationship.”
Julian’s lawyer shifted in his chair.
“There were private efforts.”
“Then provide them.”
Silence.
I already knew what they had produced.
Letters sent through attorneys.
Requests routed through Chloe after I had left.
Language about confidentiality, reputation, marital dissolution, and future claims.
No message saying, Are you safe?
No message saying, How is the baby?
No message saying, I want to be a father.
Julian looked at me as if he were seeing that absence for the first time.
“Mother told me the lawyers were handling it.”
Evelyn’s head snapped toward him.
My attorney closed one hand over the folder.
“Mr.
