Chapter 4 - THE HEIR HIDDEN BENEATH HER HEART
Julian Rainer arrived the following morning.
Dominic's younger brother was thirty-five, charming and perpetually underestimated.
That had always been Julian's advantage.
He walked into the library smiling.
“Camille says you've lost your mind.”
Dominic placed the forged authorization on the desk.
Julian's smile disappeared.
“Recognize it?”
“No.”
“Try again.”
Julian sat.
“You're accusing me?”
“I'm asking.”
“No.”
Dominic placed forensic authentication results beside it.
The electronic signature had been generated using an executive token assigned to Julian’s office during Dominic's Rotterdam trip.
Julian stared.
Then shrugged.
“Mother asked me to authorize documents.”
“You knew what they were?”
“Eventually.”
“Anna's pregnancy?”
“Yes.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
His own brother.
“How many people knew?”
“Dominic—”
“How many?”
“Mother. Camille. Me. Two household managers.”
“And every one of you decided I didn't deserve to know my son was alive.”
Julian leaned forward.
“You don't understand what was happening.”
“Then explain.”
“The company was vulnerable.”
Always the company.
“The Ashford insurance agreement was worth hundreds of millions. Mother believed Camille was necessary.”
“So you forged my signature.”
“I used delegated authority.”
“To declare my living child dead?”
Julian flinched.
“You're making it sound monstrous.”
Dominic stared.
“It is monstrous.”
Julian's frustration broke through.
“You were always going to inherit everything!”
There.
The deeper wound.
Julian had lived behind Dominic his entire life.
Dominic got the company.
Dominic got their father's attention.
Dominic got board authority.
Then Anna became pregnant.
A son.
A future heir.
Julian saw himself moving another place backward.
Evelyn exploited that resentment.
“She told you the child threatened your position.”
Julian said nothing.
Dominic understood.
“This wasn't about Camille.”
“No.”
“Or Anna.”
“No.”
“You were afraid of a baby.”
Julian stood.
“Don't talk to me like that.”
“A child who wasn't even born.”
“You don't know what it's like being your brother!”
“And Anna didn't know what it was like being held prisoner by our lies.”
Julian's face changed.
“Prisoner?”
Dominic pointed toward the confiscated identification documents found in Evelyn's locked desk.
“She couldn't leave easily.”
“I didn't know that.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“You participated in something because it benefited you, then stopped asking questions before the answers became inconvenient.”
Julian looked away.
Dominic did not call police immediately.
Not because Julian deserved protection.
Because Anna deserved control over what happened next.
Dominic brought everything to Rachel Kim.
Rachel interviewed Anna.
Potential offenses extended beyond forgery.
Identity document retention.
Financial coercion.
Possible unlawful restraint.
Harassment.
Fraud.
The exact charges would depend on investigators.
Anna listened.
Then asked:
“If I report them, will everyone know about the baby?”
Rachel answered honestly.
“Possibly.”
Anna looked toward her stomach.
Dominic said nothing.
This was her decision.
Finally:
“I want to report it.”
Dominic looked at her.
Anna's eyes were afraid but steady.
“I don't want my son growing up in a family where powerful people can do this and call it protection.”
That afternoon police arrived.
Evelyn was interviewed.
Julian retained counsel.
Camille began negotiating cooperation.
The mansion filled with attorneys instead of servants.
Anna watched from the guesthouse.
Dominic sat beside her on the porch.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Then the baby kicked.
Anna smiled despite herself.
“He does that whenever I'm upset.”
Dominic looked at her belly.
“Can he hear us?”
“Probably.”
Dominic leaned slightly closer.
“Hello.”
Anna laughed.
“You sound ridiculous.”
“I've never spoken to an unborn person.”
“He's not going to answer.”
“Rainer men are stubborn.”
“That's what worries me.”
Another kick.
Dominic smiled.
Then Anna's expression became serious.
“Dominic.”
“Yes?”
“What happens after he's born?”
He knew what she meant.
Us.
“I don't know.”
“Neither do I.”
“I won't pressure you.”
“I loved you.”
Past tense.
It hurt.
“I loved you too.”
Anna corrected him.
“Did?”
Dominic looked at her.
“No.”
Silence.
She looked away.
He continued:
“But loving you doesn't entitle me to you.”
Anna's eyes filled.
That was the first brick.
Not rebuilding the old relationship.
Building something new.
Then her hand suddenly gripped the porch rail.
Her face tightened.
“Anna?”
She inhaled sharply.
“Something's wrong.”
Another pain.
Then another.
Dominic was already standing.
Twenty-eight weeks.
Too early.
Far too early.
He reached for her.
Anna gasped:
“Dominic...”
Then she looked down.
May you like
Blood stained the front of her dress.
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