Julian was the prize.
“Why are you calling me?” I asked.
“Because Mrs. Sterlington contacted me tonight.”
“She’s under a restraining order.”
“She didn’t call about your wife.”
The silence that followed felt alive.
“She asked whether the second file was still secure,” Elias said.
“What second file?”
“I thought you should know before she uses it.”
“What second file?” I repeated.
Elias exhaled.
“The paternity file.”
My whole body went still.
From the hallway, one of the security men asked if I was all right.
I could not answer.
On the phone, Elias spoke carefully.
“I don’t know whether it’s real. I never verified it. But she believes she has evidence that Julian is not your son.”
The room disappeared beneath me.
For one terrible second, Penelope’s architecture rose again around my mind.
Sophie’s exhaustion.
My absences.
My mother’s whispers.
The photographs in my file.
Potential leverage.
