Chapter 2 - The Dress
Julian stared at the phone.
The message was visible only for a few seconds.
But that was enough.
Chloe reached for Julian’s arm.
“Julian, make him stop.”
Julian barely heard her.
His eyes remained fixed on Leo.
“Where did you get those?”
Leo answered honestly.
“Mom showed me.”
Julian looked toward his wife.
She did not flinch.
“You showed him?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“This afternoon.”
Julian gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“You brought my private messages to a child?”
His wife’s expression remained composed.
“No. You brought your private life into our family.”
A few guests lowered their eyes.
Others quietly watched.
Julian suddenly realized something else.
The gala was being hosted by his company.
The people surrounding him were not random strangers.
They were clients.
Board members.
Business partners.
People whose trust had built his career.
And now his son was standing in front of them holding evidence of an affair.
Julian approached slowly.
“Leo, listen to me.”
Leo watched him carefully.
“You said Mom didn’t understand.”
Julian swallowed.
“She doesn’t.”
Leo tilted his head.
“Then why did you tell Chloe that Mom was leaving you?”
Chloe stiffened.
Julian stopped moving.
His wife looked at him.
That was the first time her expression changed.
Only slightly.
A flicker of pain crossed her eyes.
Julian had told Chloe that the marriage was already over.
He had told her his wife knew.
He had told her the divorce papers were coming.
But his wife had never heard any of it.
Chloe looked at Julian.
“You said she knew.”
Julian’s silence answered her.
A guest near the champagne table quietly turned away.
Another whispered something to his wife.
The atmosphere shifted.
This was no longer simply a private affair.
Julian had lied to everyone.
Leo looked down at his phone.
“There’s more.”
Julian’s face tightened.
His wife reached for Leo’s shoulder again.
“Not yet.”
Leo looked up.
She gave him a tiny nod.
The boy lowered the phone.
Julian exhaled.
For one second, he believed he had escaped.
Then his wife opened her clutch.
She pulled out a folded document.
And placed it on the table beside them.
Julian recognized the letterhead.
His expression changed instantly.
May you like
👉 The affair was only the surface of the lie—the document in his wife’s clutch threatened everything Julian had built.
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