“But if you disappoint them the way you disappointed me, Julian, I will use every resource I have to make sure you never see them again. Do you understand?”
He nodded, looking smaller than I had ever seen him.
He left without another word.
I stood at the window, watching him walk away, and felt nothing.
Not love. Not hate. Not even satisfaction.
Just peace.
The story eventually died down, as all stories do.
The gossip sites moved on to other scandals.
The financial press focused on my company’s successful public offering, which broke records and made me richer than I ever imagined possible.
The Sterling family retreated behind their lawyers and their walls.
Julian’s marriage to Victoria lasted six months before she filed for divorce.
Apparently, being married to a man with four secret children was not the fairy tale she had signed up for.
I returned to California with my children and my empire.
Julian did eventually reach out, asking to establish a relationship with the children.
I allowed supervised visits at first, then gradually gave him more access as he proved himself consistent.
He would never be the father I wished they had, but he tried.
And trying was more than he had ever done for me.