Chapter 2 - The Invitation Delivered to a Maternity Ward
Three weeks before the hospital confrontation, Audrey woke to the sound of rain tapping against the maternity ward window.
Her son slept in a clear hospital bassinet beside her bed.
He was less than twelve hours old.
His temporary identification bracelet read:
BABY BOY BENNETT.
Audrey had given him her own surname.
She had not yet chosen a first name.
For most of the pregnancy, she had called him Little Star because he moved most strongly at night. When she could not sleep, she would place a hand over her stomach and whisper that they would find their way together.
Now he was here.
Tiny.
Warm.
Entirely dependent on her.
And his father had still never seen him.
A nurse entered carrying flowers.
“Another delivery for you.”
Audrey glanced at the enormous arrangement of white roses.
She knew immediately they were not a gift.
White roses had always been Julian’s way of disguising cruelty as elegance.
The nurse placed the flowers near the window and handed Audrey a cream envelope.
The words on the front were printed in gold.
JULIAN STERLING AND VICTORIA VALE REQUEST THE HONOR OF YOUR PRESENCE.
Audrey stared at the wedding invitation.
The ceremony would take place in three weeks at the Sterling Grand Hotel.
The reception would be held in the Imperial Ballroom.
At the bottom, beneath the formal invitation, someone had added a handwritten message.
Victoria’s handwriting.
You should come. Closure might help you accept reality.
Audrey let out a soft laugh.
It hurt.
Her body ached from childbirth, and the emergency delivery had left her weak. But the laughter continued until tears filled her eyes.
The nurse looked concerned.
“Do you want me to throw it away?”
“No,” Audrey said.
She slid the invitation beneath her pillow.
“I think I’ll attend.”
After the nurse left, Audrey picked up her phone.
There were no missed calls from Julian.
No messages asking whether she had survived labor.
No questions about the child.
The last communication from him had arrived two months earlier.
A voice message.
His words remained burned into her memory.
“I’m done discussing this. The baby isn’t mine. Stop contacting me, or my attorney will file a restraining order.”
Audrey had listened to it only once.
She had saved three copies.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
Dr. Sarah Miller entered with a tablet in one hand.
Sarah had been Audrey’s physician for seven years. She had treated Audrey through two miscarriages, several fertility procedures and the final pregnancy Julian had once claimed to want more than anything in the world.
Sarah looked at the flowers.
“That man has a special talent for making white roses feel threatening.”
“They’re from Victoria.”
“That somehow makes them worse.”
Sarah checked the newborn’s breathing and examined Audrey’s chart.
“Your blood pressure is improving. But I want you resting.”
“I will.”
“That answer sounded dishonest.”
Audrey looked toward the rain-streaked window.
“Do you remember the paternity sample Julian provided during our fertility treatment?”
Sarah went still.
“What about it?”
“Would the hospital still have it?”
“Possibly. Frozen samples and genetic screening records are retained according to policy. Why?”
Audrey pulled the wedding invitation from beneath her pillow.
Sarah read it.
Her jaw tightened.
“He invited you to his wedding three weeks after your due date?”
“He thinks humiliation is closure.”
Sarah placed the invitation on the bed.
“Audrey, listen to me. You do not owe either of them a performance.”
“I know.”
“Then why do I feel like you’re planning one?”
Audrey looked at the sleeping baby.
“Because Julian didn’t simply leave me.”
Sarah waited.
“He transferred money out of our joint accounts. He canceled the health insurance he knew I needed. He told the board I was emotionally unstable. Then someone used my electronic signature to surrender my shares in Sterling Biotech.”
Sarah’s expression changed.
“Can you prove that?”
“Not yet.”
“Have you spoken to an attorney?”
“One is coming this afternoon.”
“Who?”
Before Audrey could answer, another knock sounded.
A tall woman entered wearing a charcoal suit and carrying a leather briefcase. Her silver-blond hair was pulled into a neat knot.
Audrey had met her only once before.
Her name was Evelyn Cross.
She had been the private attorney of Audrey’s late grandfather.
Evelyn closed the door behind her.
“I came as soon as I received your message.”
Sarah excused herself, but Audrey stopped her.
“You should stay. This concerns the hospital records too.”
Evelyn placed the briefcase on the table.
“First, I need to know exactly what Julian believes.”
“He believes the baby is not his. He believes I signed away my company shares. And he believes my grandfather’s trust became accessible to him when we married.”
Evelyn slowly sat down.
“He is wrong on all three counts.”
Audrey stared at her.
Evelyn opened the briefcase and removed a red folder sealed with the Bennett family crest.
“Your grandfather anticipated that someone might marry you for control of the company.”
“My grandfather died before I met Julian.”
“He did. But he knew the type of men who are attracted to inherited power.”
Evelyn placed the folder on Audrey’s blanket.
“There is a dormant protection clause inside the Bennett Trust. It activates upon proof that a spouse committed fraud, coercion or abandonment during pregnancy.”
Audrey’s heartbeat quickened.
“What does it do?”
“It freezes every asset transferred through your marital estate.”
“Julian moved nearly everything.”
“Yes.”
“Then it freezes nearly everything.”
Evelyn’s expression remained calm.
“But there is another clause. One that may be even more important.”
She glanced at the newborn.
“If a biological Bennett heir is born and formally acknowledged through verified paternity, controlling ownership of Sterling Biotech reverts to the child’s maternal trust.”
Audrey looked down at her son.
“So Julian’s attempt to steal my shares could place the company under the baby’s control?”
“Eventually, yes. You would serve as trustee until he reaches the required age.”
Audrey’s fingers tightened around the red folder.
“What do you need from me?”
“Evidence.”
“I have messages, account records and copies of documents.”
“We need proof the signatures were forged. We also need paternity.”
Sarah spoke from beside the window.
“The hospital may still have Julian’s genetic samples from the fertility program.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Then we move carefully.”
Audrey looked at the wedding invitation again.
“What happens if the trust activates before the ceremony?”
“Julian’s attorneys may discover it and try to stop us.”
“And if it activates during the ceremony?”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Then he would learn what happened in front of every investor, board member and business partner he invited.”
Audrey lifted her sleeping child into her arms.
For months, she had felt hunted.
May you like
For the first time, she felt the direction of the chase beginning to change.
“I’m going to the wedding,” she said.
