"What did he do?" Julian let out a shaky breath that sounded dangerously close to falling apart. And then the truth finally came out. All of it. The obsession. The manipulation. The violation hidden behind medical procedures and legal documents.
Every sick detail he had been carrying alone. By the time he reached the end, his voice had become hollow with horror.
"He made them inseminate her with his sperm, Mother." The room fell deathly silent. Julian stared downward, unable to breathe properly anymore.
"The baby..." His voice cracked violently. "The baby she's carrying might be his." The confession shattered something in the room. Madam Vale jerked upright so fast her chair scraped harshly across the floor.
"What?" The word exploded from her. The tea tray rattled violently from the force of her movement. For the first time that night, she looked completely stripped of composure.
Not elegant. Not controlled. Furious. Purely furious.
