Chapter 7 - JULIAN FINALLY TALKS
Julian denied involvement for months.
He blamed Eleanor.
Said his mother was controlling.
Manipulative.
Obsessed with money.
All possibly true.
Then prosecutors showed him the life-insurance application.
His electronic signature.
The clause about accidental death.
The estate-trust requests.
His messages to Eleanor.
One text, sent at 2:08 a.m. on the night Victoria caught her:
She usually comes down around 3:30. Make sure she doesn't see anything.
Julian stopped talking.
That message ended the idea that Eleanor acted alone.
Another:
Afterward, call me before 911. We need the timing clean.
Premeditation.
Coordination.
Insurance.
Trust motive.
Old pattern.
Rebecca.
Everything collapsed.
Julian’s lawyer requested negotiations.
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Before any agreement, Julian asked to send Victoria a letter.
She read it.
He wrote:
I never thought of it as killing you.
Victoria almost tore the page.
Then continued.
I kept thinking about what would happen after. Mom kept saying one accident would fix everything. I stopped thinking about what the accident actually meant.
Cowardice dressed as abstraction.
Then:
I told myself the baby wouldn't know anything.
Victoria vomited.
That sentence destroyed whatever remained.
He had transformed his own unborn child into a technicality.
May you like
She did not finish the letter.
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