When Julian entered the private hospital suite, he wore the same cold expression he’d had hours earlier, when he left me alone in the middle of labor.
But the moment he saw the man sitting beside my bed, he stopped in his tracks.
My father, Marcus Sterling, wore an elegant charcoal-gray suit. Two bassinets stood beside him.
Julian looked at Marcus, then at the newborns, and finally at the documents spread across the table.
His face went pale.
“What is all this?”
My father didn’t stand.
“I think you already know.”
My name is Gia. For years, I kept a major part of my identity hidden, convinced it was the only way to be loved for who I really was.
But that morning, my secret could no longer stay buried.
Julian pointed to the birth certificates.
“Why do they have the Sterling name?”
“Because it’s my family name,” I replied.
He stared at me in disbelief.
“Our children should have the Thorne name.”
“Before we discuss their names, maybe you should look at them.”
Julian turned toward the bassinets and froze.
“Wait… there are two?”
“Yes. Amelia and Evan.”
The doctors discovered during labor that I was carrying twins. My pregnancy had been unusual, and the second baby hadn’t been clearly identified during my earlier examinations.
Julian had no idea.
He had left before they were born.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” he asked.
I met his gaze.
“Because you were too busy trying to make me sign an agreement.”
The $250,000 check he had offered me was still on the table.
According to Julian, the money would let me start over somewhere else while he kept control of the decisions concerning our child.
He thought his offer was generous.
To me, it only proved how little my wishes mattered to him.
Marcus picked up the check.
“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” he read slowly. “So that’s what you thought was enough?”
Julian stiffened.
“This is a private matter between my wife and me.”
“Gia is my daughter.”
Those words changed the mood in the room.
Julian studied Marcus more closely, then looked back at the documents.
“Wait… Marcus Sterling? The chairman of the Sterling Group?”
My father nodded.
Julian turned sharply toward me.
“You’re Gia Sterling?”
“I always have been.”
His eyes widened.
“You hid the fact that you belonged to one of the wealthiest families in the country!”
“I never lied about my name. I simply chose to live outside my father’s shadow.”
“You let me believe you had no money!”
His words stung.
“I let you get to know me, Julian. I thought that was enough.”
He gave a bitter laugh.
“You deceived me.”
“I married you because I loved you. I wanted to know whether you could love me without knowing my family’s wealth.”
Julian fell silent. Then, looking at Marcus, he seemed to remember something.
“We’ve met before. At the foundation dinner.”
My father nodded.
“I remember that evening very well.”
So did I.
Before our wedding, I’d attended an event hosted by the Sterling Foundation and quietly helped the staff. Julian had been there with several friends.
That night, I heard him mock my family. He called us a nouveau riche dynasty, incapable of buying the prestige of the old families.
I never told him I’d heard him. I wanted to believe those words didn’t reflect the man I was falling in love with.
“You knew who I was back then?” Julian asked.
“I knew your name. And I heard what you thought of my family.”
“You should have told me.”
“Would it have changed the way you treated me?”
He didn’t answer.
My father stepped closer to the bassinets.
“May I meet my grandchildren?”
I showed him the babies. Amelia slept with a tiny crease between her eyebrows. Evan rested one hand beside his cheek.
Marcus softly repeated their names. For the first time, I saw his eyes fill with tears.
Julian watched them.
“They’re my children too.”
“No one is denying that,” I said. “But I won’t let their future be decided through threats or agreements signed under pressure.”
Just then, a doctor entered with some administrative papers.
Julian stepped forward immediately.
“I’m their father. I want the birth certificates changed.”
The doctor explained that any changes would have to follow the proper legal procedures. The babies had been registered using the information available, and any disputed matters would need further review.
Julian looked furious.
“You’re trying to shut me out.”
“I’m not trying to shut you out,” I said. “I’m trying to protect our children so they don’t become bargaining chips in our conflict.”
My father took out another envelope.
“Julian, there’s also a business matter you should know about.”
Inside was a notice concerning his position as chief operating officer at Thorne Holdings. The board had voted to remove him from the role.
Julian stared at the document.
“You have no right to decide the future of my company!”
“I didn’t make that decision personally,” Marcus replied. “The Sterling Group is a major investor, and the decision was made by the company’s proper authorities.”
Julian turned to me angrily.
“Did you arrange this?”
I shook my head.
“I didn’t know about it. I only asked my father to help me feel safe.”
For a moment, the man in front of me seemed to lose all the confidence he’d always carried.
Then he spoke more quietly.
“I was afraid, Gia.”
“Afraid of what?”
“That you’d use our child to control my life.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Did you really think I went through all of this for your money?”
Julian lowered his eyes.
For years, I’d hidden my background to avoid exactly that kind of suspicion. Now I was beginning to understand that my husband had always seen everything through the lens of power, money, and self-interest.
“I wanted you to choose me without the Sterling name,” I said. “But now I’m wondering if you ever really saw me at all.”
Julian looked as if he were about to answer.
Then his phone rang.
His mother’s name appeared on the screen.
He declined the call.
A second call came in almost immediately.
Victoria.
The moment he saw the name, his expression changed. He wasn’t just angry anymore.
He was afraid.
“Answer it,” I said.
Julian hesitated, then picked up.
A woman’s voice filled the room.
“Julian, where are you? You promised you’d bring me the documents.”
He moved away from the bassinets.
“I can’t talk right now.”
“You told me Gia had agreed to let you have custody of the child.”
My blood ran cold. I looked at the agreement on the table.
“Julian, how long have you been planning this with Victoria?”
He closed his eyes.
“Gia, let me explain.”
But before he could say another word, a nurse came in and handed me an envelope delivered by courier. There was no return address, but I recognized the Thorne family crest on the seal.
I opened it.
Inside was a copy of a hospital document dated three months earlier. My name appeared on the first page.
Julian’s was on the second.
Under a section referring to a supposed prior custody agreement, someone had added a note:
“Male newborn: transfer to the father immediately after birth, in accordance with the required authorizations.”
I could barely breathe.
Julian had always talked about one baby.
He still didn’t know I was carrying twins.
I checked the date. The document appeared to have been prepared several weeks before I went into labor.
At the bottom of the page was a signature that looked exactly like my husband’s.
“Julian, what is this?”
He stared at the paper, shaken.
“I never signed that.”
I watched him without answering. I didn’t know whether to believe him.
But one thing was certain: someone had prepared documents concerning my son before he was even born.
And now there were two children, not one.
When I looked at the signature again, I noticed a detail that made my hands tremble. Beneath Julian’s name was a second reference, almost completely erased.
A name I recognized.
And never expected to find on that document.
—END OF PART 2—
Click “Next” at the bottom of the page to continue with Part 3 and discover who prepared that agreement before Amelia and Evan were born.
