Chapter 6 - Sarah Collins on the Phone
Julian knew attorneys.
He employed them.
Threatened through them.
Hid behind them.
Paid them to make language behave.
Sarah Collins did not sound like one of his attorneys.
She sounded like someone who had already chosen her side.
He tightened his grip on the phone.
“What did she tell you?”
Sarah’s voice remained even.
“She gave instructions.”
“For what?”
“For this moment.”
Julian’s mouth went dry.
This moment.
Not a general emergency.
Not a marital dispute.
This exact return.
This exact empty house.
This exact envelope on his desk.
His eyes moved toward the office window.
Across the hallway reflection, he could see the faint shape of the open garden door far behind him.
Elena’s exit still lingered in the mansion like cold air.
“She took my son,” Julian said.
Sarah’s answer came instantly.
“She left with her child safely.”
The correction hit him hard.
Her child.
Not your son.
Not the boy.
Not Harrison Blackwood.
Her child.
His jaw flexed.
“You are making a very dangerous mistake.”
“No,” Sarah said. “Your wife spent weeks preventing one.”
Julian’s face changed.
Weeks.
Not hours.
Not after some emotional argument.
Weeks.
He looked again at the empty office, at the envelope, at the bracelet, at the document.
Elena had been preparing while he had been traveling, smiling, lying, returning with confidence.
He had not seen it.
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That made the fear worse.
Read Chapter 7 👉 Because Sarah’s word “weeks” told Julian Elena’s escape had started long before he noticed anything was missing.
