The news eventually reached Cedar Hollow.
And eventually, it reached Julian.
He came to the farmhouse one afternoon.
I was sitting on the porch when his car stopped outside.
He stepped out.
He looked different.
Older.
Less confident.
He stared at my pregnancy.
“Twins?”
I nodded.
“How?”
I almost laughed.
“You really want to ask me that?”
His face tightened.
“I heard you’re being treated by doctors in Boston.”
“I am.”
“Garrison arranged all this?”
“No.”
I stood.
“I did.”
Julian looked toward the farmhouse.
“Where is he?”
Before I could answer, Garrison stepped onto the porch.
Julian froze.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Julian whispered:
“Sheriff Blackwood.”
Garrison’s expression didn’t change.
“You remember me.”
Julian swallowed.
“You investigated my father’s company.”
“Yes.”
“And the clinic.”
“Yes.”
Julian’s face lost its color.
That was when I understood.
Julian hadn’t been afraid of Garrison because he was a former sheriff.
He was afraid because Garrison knew the history Julian had spent years trying to bury.
Chapter Eight: The Evidence
Rebecca had uncovered more than financial transfers.
She found emails.
Messages between Julian and the former clinic administrator.
One message was especially damaging.
Julian had asked whether his fertility diagnosis could be removed from his patient file.
Another message showed that he had asked the administrator to make sure future medical records emphasized my fertility problems.
He had built a narrative.
I was the infertile wife.
He was the innocent husband.
His family believed it.
Our friends believed it.
Even I had believed it.
But now there was evidence.
Julian’s attorney contacted Rebecca.
A settlement was negotiated.
I received my share of the marital assets.
My health insurance was restored temporarily while the divorce was finalized.
Julian’s company faced its own legal problems because of the financial transfers.
The clinic administrator agreed to cooperate with investigators.
And Julian’s carefully constructed reputation began to collapse.
But I didn’t feel victorious.
I felt free.
