Chapter 10 - The Price of a Vanishing Woman)
Claire found Natalie Brooks in Vermont.
Not California.
Never California.
She had lived in Vermont for twelve years.
She worked as a speech therapist.
She had one daughter.
Maya Brooks.
Thirteen years old.
No father listed on the public birth record.
Emma stared at the information.
“Does Natalie know we found her?”
“No,” Claire said.
“Good.”
“You want Julian there when we contact her?”
Emma looked toward the bedroom.
Julian had barely slept.
For two days he had walked through the penthouse as though every room contained a ghost.
“Yes.”
Claire studied her.
“You don’t owe him that.”
“This isn’t about owing him.”
“Then what?”
“If Maya is his daughter, this begins with her. Not with what Julian wants. Not with what Eleanor wants.”
Claire smiled faintly.
“That is exactly why Evelyn trusted you.”
Emma frowned.
“You’ve spoken to Evelyn?”
“This morning.”
“What did she say?”
“That she sent the photograph.”
Emma stared.
“Why wouldn’t she tell me directly?”
“She wanted Julian to recognize Maya before someone explained her.”
Emma thought of the photograph.
Julian had needed less than a second.
He had whispered Natalie’s name.
Not Maya’s.
Natalie’s.
As if the face brought back a whole lost life.
Claire continued.
“There’s something else. We found a payment.”
Emma already knew.
“How much?”
“One hundred eighty thousand dollars.”
“To Natalie?”
“To a trust created for Maya.”
Emma blinked.
“That doesn’t sound like hush money.”
“No.”
“Who funded it?”
“Eleanor.”
Emma frowned.
“So she did support the child?”
“Maybe.”
Claire turned the laptop.
“The trust has received fifteen thousand dollars every year since Maya was born.”
Emma calculated.
“That’s more than three hundred thousand.”
“Correct.”
“Does Natalie use it?”
“Apparently not. The balance is intact.”
“Then why send it?”
Claire gave her the next piece.
“Because the money doesn’t appear to be a gift.”
“What is it?”
“Under the original agreement, payments stop if Natalie publicly identifies Julian as Maya’s father.”
Emma stared.
There it was.
Money in exchange for silence.
Julian entered the room.
“Tell me.”
Claire looked at Emma.
Emma nodded.
Claire explained.
Julian listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he stood completely still.
“My mother paid her.”
“Apparently.”
“Why would Natalie agree?”
“We haven’t asked.”
“I want to talk to her.”
“Not without permission,” Emma said.
Julian turned.
“She has my daughter.”
“She may have your daughter.”
“She kept her from me.”
“Your mother may have paid her to.”
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
“No. But you don’t know what happened.”
His voice sharpened.
“You keep defending everyone except me.”
Emma’s expression changed.
“You are not the victim at the center of this.”
Julian stopped.
“If Maya is your daughter, she is.”
Claire quietly left the room.
Julian looked at Emma.
His anger collapsed.
“You’re right.”
Emma sat.
He lowered himself into the chair across from her.
“I don’t know how to do this.”
“Start by not making it about yourself.”
He nodded.
The next morning Natalie agreed to a video call.
She appeared on screen wearing glasses and a dark sweater.
Julian looked as though someone had punched him.
Natalie looked older than the photographs.
Tired.
Guarded.
“Hello, Julian.”
He swallowed.
“Hi.”
Natalie’s eyes moved to Emma.
“You must be his wife.”
“Emma.”
“I know.”
Emma wondered how.
Natalie answered before she asked.
“Eleanor has kept track of him for me.”
Julian flinched.
“She told you about my life?”
“Only enough to remind me that staying away was wise.”
His eyes filled with anger.
“Natalie, is Maya mine?”
Silence.
Natalie removed her glasses.
“Yes.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Emma watched his hand grip the table.
“Did you know?”
“Since before she was born.”
“Why did you tell me otherwise?”
Natalie’s face hardened.
“Because your father threatened to destroy my mother’s business, your mother threatened to take my baby, and you believed every lie they told you.”
“I was twenty-two.”
“So was I.”
Julian had no answer.
Natalie continued.
“Your mother came to me with lawyers. She said if I stayed quiet, Maya would be protected financially. If I refused, the Vale family would prove I was unstable, immoral, and unfit.”
Emma felt cold.
Julian looked sick.
“She couldn’t have done that.”
Natalie laughed without humor.
“She already had the affidavits prepared.”
“From whom?”
“People I’d never met.”
Julian looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
Natalie’s expression softened only slightly.
“Maya knows you exist.”
His head lifted.
“What does she know?”
“That her biological father came from a powerful family and that I chose to raise her away from them.”
“Does she know my name?”
“Yes.”
“Does she hate me?”
Natalie’s eyes filled.
“She doesn’t know you well enough to hate you.”
Julian turned away from the camera.
Emma gave him a moment.
Then Natalie looked directly at Emma.
“You’re pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“Then Eleanor will come for you too.”
Emma’s hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
“What do you mean?”
Natalie leaned closer.
“Eleanor doesn’t care about grandchildren.”
Her voice lowered.
“She cares about which grandchild controls the Vale trust.”
The call ended twenty minutes later.
Less than an hour afterward, Eleanor appeared downstairs demanding entry.
Security refused.
So she stood in the lobby and sent Julian a message.
If you want to know why I protected you from Natalie, come downstairs alone.
Julian looked at Emma.
May you like
Emma said, “You’re not going alone.”
For once, he did not argue.
