HIS PREGNANT WIFE WAS ATTACKED IN A $10,000 HOSPITAL SUITE—THEN HIS BILLIONAIRE FATHER DISCOVERED WHAT HIS SON HAD BEEN HIDING

Elena could barely recognize the man in the photograph at first. Julian wore a baseball cap and a dark jacket, his face partially hidden as he entered the hospital's medical records office at 12:43 a.m.

"Why was he here?" she asked.

The administrator explained that the system had recorded an unauthorized attempt to access Elena's original pregnancy report. The user had entered Dr. Lang's credentials, then searched for records connected to the private trust.

"Did he change anything?" Marcus asked.

"We're still investigating. The audit log shows that several files were opened and one document was downloaded."

Elena turned to Marcus.

"Did you know he was coming?"

"No."

"Did you tell him about the blue file?"

"No."

The answer frightened her more than an admission would have.

Julian had been lying for months, but now he was entering hospital offices under another doctor's identity. Whatever he was hiding, it was not simply an affair.

Marcus called the police liaison assigned to the case. The hospital preserved the access logs, and the security team escorted the administrator to a secure office to prepare a formal report.

Elena asked to speak to Julian on the telephone.

He answered immediately.

"Elena?"

"You entered the records office last night."

Silence.

"I can explain."

"Then explain."

"I was looking for the original report."

"Why?"

"Because I found evidence that someone had altered it."

"Who?"

"I don't know yet."

"You used Dr. Lang's credentials."

"He gave me access before he disappeared."

"Why would he do that?"

Julian's voice cracked.

"Because he was afraid."

Elena shut her eyes.

"Of whom?"

"My mother."

The answer was so unexpected that she forgot to breathe.

"Your mother is dead, Julian."

"I know what everyone says."

"Then stop speaking in riddles and tell me what you know."

Julian took a shaky breath.

"Before she died, my mother believed someone inside the family was stealing from her foundation. She hired Dr. Lang to review her medical records because she suspected her surgery had been deliberately delayed. When he found discrepancies, he copied the records and gave them to me."

"Why didn't you tell the police?"

"Because the records also implicated my father."

Marcus, standing beside Elena, heard the statement through the phone. His face became rigid.

"Put him on speaker," he said.

Elena did.

Marcus spoke calmly.

"Julian, I want the truth. Did you believe I harmed your mother?"

"I didn't know what to believe."

"Then why did you hide the records from me?"

"Because I thought you might have done it."

Marcus looked away, wounded.

Julian continued.

"I found the original report after I married Elena. It mentioned a woman who had been paid to keep Catherine's daughter out of the family. When Elena became pregnant, I realized someone might use the trust to claim the inheritance."

Elena's hands began to shake.

"Someone used my pregnancy to activate the trust?"

"Yes. I thought moving the money would protect you."

"Without telling me."

"I was wrong."

"That is not enough."

"I know."

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Julian added something that changed the entire conversation.

"I didn't know Saraphina would attack you. But I knew she had been hired to watch you."

Elena stared at the phone.

"Who hired her?"

"I thought it was a private investigator working for the family office."

"Who?"

Julian's voice dropped to a whisper.

"My grandmother."

Marcus stepped back as though he had been struck.

His mother, Eleanor Thorne, was eighty-six and lived in a guarded estate outside the city. She rarely appeared in public, but she still held voting rights in the family foundation and controlled several trusts.

Marcus had believed her too old to be involved in the company's daily affairs.

Now he wondered whether age had merely made her more careful.

Elena pressed a hand to her stomach as Leo moved.

"Julian, I need you to understand something. I will not let anyone use our son as a weapon in your family's war."

"I understand."

"No. You will prove it."

She ended the call.

Marcus stood in silence for several seconds, then reached for his phone.

"I'm going to see my mother."