Chapter 2: The Card She Had Been Saving
Clara's panic lasted exactly three seconds.
Then her eyes hardened, and she said the one thing no one in that room expected.
"You cut me off?
Fine.
Then I'll make sure everyone knows what kind of father you really are."
Julian went still.
"What did you just say?"
"I have photos, Julian.
Texts.
Emails." Clara's voice dropped to something cold and deliberate.
"Things that would make your perfect life look very different."
Elena turned slowly from the doorway.
"What photos?"
Clara smiled for the first time since he'd walked in.
It wasn't a nervous smile.
It was the smile of someone who had been holding a card for a long time and had finally decided to play it.
"Ask your husband," she said softly.
The room went completely silent.
Aria had fallen asleep against Elena's shoulder, exhausted from crying.
Chloe was frozen on the sofa.
Even Maya had stopped breathing.
Julian's jaw tightened.
"You have nothing."
"Then why do you look like that?"
He didn't answer.
Elena's eyes moved to Julian.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The way a lawyer looks at a witness who just contradicted themselves.
"Julian," she said quietly.
"What is she talking about?"
Before he could speak, Clara's phone buzzed on the shelf behind her.
She glanced at the screen — and something shifted in her expression.
Not triumph this time.
May you like
Fear.
She snatched the phone face-down before anyone could see the name on the notification.
