🔥CHAPTER 2 Fifteen Days After Giving Birth Alone, She Vanished with the Baby and Left Her Husband One Final Gift
CHAPTER 2: THE SECOND GIFT
Julian Pierce did not go home.
For the first time in years, he had nowhere he wanted to be.
Not the penthouse overlooking Central Park.
Not the Pierce family estate in Connecticut.
And certainly not the apartment where Khloe Harper was probably waiting for him with a bottle of champagne and a list of complaints about being ignored for three hours.
He sat in his car outside the maternity retreat long after the engine had gone cold.
The divorce papers lay on the passenger seat.
The USB drive rested in his palm.
More gifts coming.
The words replayed in his head.
Eleanor had never been dramatic.
That was one of the reasons he had married her.
She never yelled.
Never made scenes.
Never demanded attention.
While other women chased luxury and status, Eleanor had always seemed grateful just to be included.
Or at least that was what he had believed.
Now he wasn't so sure.
His phone rang.
Khloe.
He stared at the screen.
Ignored it.
Thirty seconds later it rang again.
And again.
Finally he answered.
"What?"
The silence on the other end lasted two full seconds.
Khloe wasn't used to that tone.
"Excuse me?" she snapped.
"I'm at your apartment."
"I know."
"You know?"
"Khloe, not now."
Another pause.
Then her voice sharpened.
"What's wrong with you?"
Julian looked through the windshield.
People moved along the sidewalk carrying coffee cups and shopping bags.
Normal lives.
Normal priorities.
Meanwhile his wife had vanished with his newborn child.
"No," he said quietly. "The question is what's wrong with me."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Julian ended the call.
Just like that.
No explanation.
No apology.
Nothing.
For a long moment he stared at the black screen.
Then he opened his messages.
Hundreds of unread emails.
Dozens of business updates.
Three messages from his mother.
The latest had arrived two hours earlier.
Call me immediately.
Nothing else.
He laughed.
A short, humorless sound.
Then he started the car.
Margaret Pierce was waiting in the library.
The Pierce estate looked exactly as it always had.
Perfect.
Immaculate.
Cold.
Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the walls.
A fire crackled despite the warm weather.
Margaret sat in a leather chair with a crystal glass beside her.
She didn't stand when Julian entered.
"You finally decided to answer your phone."
Julian closed the door.
"Where is Eleanor?"
His mother blinked once.
Nothing more.
"I assumed she was with you."
"Don't."
"What?"
"Don't do that."
Margaret slowly set down her glass.
For the first time, she seemed to notice something unusual in her son.
"Julian—"
"Where is she?"
"I have no idea."
He tossed the divorce papers onto the table.
The pages scattered across polished wood.
Margaret glanced down.
Then up.
Still calm.
"She signed."
"After you threatened to take her child."
The room became very quiet.
Margaret's expression hardened.
"She recorded that conversation."
"I heard everything."
A flicker.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
But it was there.
For the first time in his life, Julian saw his mother caught off guard.
"It was a private family matter."
"No."
His voice echoed through the library.
"It was cruelty."
Margaret stared at him.
Then laughed softly.
"Cruelty?"
"You abandoned your pregnant wife for two weeks to vacation with another woman."
Julian froze.
Margaret continued.
"You ignored her calls."
"She never called."
"Exactly."
The words landed like a slap.
His mother stood.
Slowly.
Gracefully.
Dangerously.
"Do you know how many nights she sat alone in that house?"
Julian didn't answer.
"Do you know how many dinners she ate by herself?"
Still nothing.
"Do you know what she said every time I suggested she leave?"
Margaret stepped closer.
"'Julian is busy.'"
Another step.
"'Julian works hard.'"
Another.
"'Julian doesn't mean it.'"
The final words came like a knife.
"She defended you far longer than you deserved."
Julian felt something twist painfully inside his chest.
Because this wasn't Eleanor speaking.
This was his mother.
The woman who had never approved of Eleanor.
The woman who believed love was weakness.
And even she sounded disappointed.
Margaret turned away first.
"You're late."
"What?"
"Whatever realization you're having."
She faced the window.
"You are months late."
Julian suddenly hated the room.
Hated the books.
Hated the expensive silence.
Hated himself.
Then his phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
He answered immediately.
"Hello?"
No response.
Only breathing.
Soft.
Steady.
Then a woman's voice.
Not Eleanor.
"Mr. Pierce?"
"Who is this?"
"My name is Ava Bennett."
The name meant nothing to him.
"How did you get this number?"
"Eleanor asked me to call."
Every muscle in his body tightened.
"Where is she?"
"I can't tell you."
"Put her on the phone."
"I can't."
Julian stood so quickly the chair behind him tipped over.
"What do you mean you can't?"
The woman remained calm.
"She's safe."
"Where?"
"I can't tell you."
His hand clenched around the phone.
"Then why call me?"
A brief silence.
Then:
"Because Eleanor wanted me to deliver the second gift."
Julian's pulse stopped.
"The what?"
"The second gift."
A notification appeared on his phone.
Email received.
He opened it instantly.
Attached was a video file.
Nothing else.
No message.
No explanation.
Just a video.
His throat went dry.
"What is this?"
"Eleanor said you'll understand after you watch it."
The call ended.
Just like that.
Julian stood motionless in the center of the library.
Margaret was watching him now.
Concerned.
Actually concerned.
A rare sight.
Slowly, Julian pressed play.
The video opened.
The date stamp showed six months earlier.
The nursery.
Their nursery.
Fresh paint.
Half-finished furniture.
Sunlight through the windows.
The camera angle suggested someone had hidden a phone on a shelf.
At first the room appeared empty.
Then Eleanor entered.
She was pregnant.
Smiling.
Holding tiny baby clothes.
Julian felt his stomach drop.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her smile like that.
Then another voice entered the room.
Khloe.
The smile vanished from Eleanor's face.
And Julian suddenly understood why this was called a gift.
Because Eleanor hadn't sent him proof.
May you like
She had sent him a mirror.
And for the first time in his life, Julian Pierce was about to see himself exactly as his wife had seen him.
