Chapter 5 - Everything He Tried to Hide
Pregnancy did not magically erase everything Julian had done.
That was something people rarely admitted about happy news.
Joy and pain could occupy the same body.
Sometimes within the same minute.
At twelve weeks, I heard two strong heartbeats and cried because I was happy.
That evening, I remembered Julian telling me I would “manage” because I had always been good at being alone, and I cried for completely different reasons.
At sixteen weeks, Dr. Keller told me both babies were developing beautifully.
At seventeen weeks, I woke from a dream in which Julian's mother stood beside a hospital crib telling me I wasn't a real woman.
Garrison found me sitting on the porch at three in the morning.
He didn't ask why I was awake.
He simply made tea and sat beside me.
“You ever get tired of rescuing people?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
He took a sip.
“That isn't the same as regretting it.”
I smiled.
Living with Garrison had become unexpectedly easy.
He never entered my room without knocking.
Never asked where I was going.
Never commented on what I ate unless I forgot to eat altogether.
When nausea made certain smells unbearable, he quietly stopped cooking bacon.
When my doctor recommended regular walking, Duke suddenly developed a powerful interest in evening strolls.
I suspected Garrison had something to do with that.
Meanwhile, my divorce became increasingly ugly.
Julian stopped offering settlements.
He began attacking.
His attorneys claimed I had become vindictive.
They argued that I was trying to destroy Mercer Development.
They accused me of exploiting private medical information.
One filing even suggested Garrison and I had begun an inappropriate relationship before Julian left.
When Rebecca read that section aloud, I nearly choked on my coffee.
Garrison looked offended.
“At least they could've made me sound interesting.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“This is not funny.”
“It is a little funny.”
I shook my head.
But beneath the humor, I understood Julian's strategy.
If he couldn't make me feel powerless, he would make me look unstable.
The old Emma might have panicked.
The woman I had become documented everything.
Rebecca's team responded with dates, bank transfers, correspondence, employment records, witness statements, and proof that I had entered Garrison's home only after Julian changed the locks.
Facts were not dramatic.
That was why they were powerful.
Then came the preliminary hearing.
I was twenty-one weeks pregnant.
My stomach had finally become impossible to hide.
Rebecca suggested a loose navy dress.
“Not because you should hide the pregnancy,” she explained. “Because today is about finances.”
I agreed.
But the courthouse had other plans.
Julian entered with two attorneys.
Chloe was not with him.
His mother, Evelyn Mercer, was.
She looked exactly as she always did.
Perfect blond-gray hair.
Pearl earrings.
An expression permanently suggesting someone nearby had disappointed her.
She saw Garrison first.
Then Rebecca.
Then me.
Her gaze dropped.
Stopped at my stomach.
Her face changed.
Julian followed her stare.
I watched him see my pregnancy.
For three seconds, he didn't move.
Then his eyes widened.
“Emma?”
I said nothing.
He walked toward me.
“You're pregnant.”
Rebecca stepped slightly between us.
“Mr. Mercer, speak through counsel.”
Julian ignored her.
“How?”
I almost laughed.
Evelyn's hand flew to her pearls.
“How far along are you?”
I looked directly at Julian.
“Twenty-one weeks.”
His expression went blank as he calculated.
The pregnancy had occurred months after our separation.
It could not possibly be his.
“Whose are they?”
I stared at him.
“They?”
He realized his mistake.
“I heard—someone said—”
“No one said anything.”
His eyes dropped toward my stomach again.
I had learned something about Julian during marriage.
When he was frightened, he talked too much.
“So it is twins.”
Rebecca gave me a look.
Say nothing.
I obeyed.
Evelyn stepped forward.
“This is unbelievable.”
Something about her tone made me turn.
Not joy.
Not surprise.
Offense.
As though my pregnancy had violated some private agreement.
“You told us you couldn't have children.”
I stared at her.
“No, Evelyn.”
My voice remained steady.
“Your son told everyone I couldn't have children.”
She went pale.
Julian grabbed her arm.
“Mom.”
I met his eyes.
“That turned out to be another thing he lied about.”
People nearby had begun watching.
Julian lowered his voice.
“Don't do this here.”
I nearly smiled at the irony.
For years, he had allowed my private medical life to become family conversation.
Now he wanted privacy.
Rebecca touched my elbow.
“We're going inside.”
The hearing lasted three hours.
Julian's attorneys argued.
Rebecca dismantled their claims methodically.
The judge ordered extended financial disclosure and maintained restrictions on key assets.
Then another problem emerged.
A forensic accountant identified nearly $1.8 million in transfers associated with companies linked to people from Garrison's old corruption investigation.
Julian wasn't merely hiding money from me.
He might have been moving money for people far more dangerous to his future than a divorcing wife.
Afterward, we walked down the courthouse steps.
Reporters were waiting.
I stopped.
“Why are reporters here?”
Garrison's face hardened.
A woman holding a microphone called his name.
“Mr. Blackwood! Is it true the state attorney general asked you to advise the Mercer inquiry?”
I turned toward him.
“What?”
Another reporter shouted.
“Director Blackwood, are you returning to the commission?”
Director?
I stared at Garrison.
Julian stood several steps away.
He looked as though someone had struck him.
“Director Blackwood?” I repeated.
Garrison sighed.
“This is not how I planned to explain it.”
Julian's attorney leaned toward him urgently.
Julian wasn't listening.
He was staring at Garrison.
For years, he had referred to the man across the road as a lonely retired sheriff.
Now cameras surrounded that same man.
A black government SUV pulled to the curb.
Two officials stepped out.
One approached Garrison.
“Director Blackwood.”
Garrison shook his hand.
I stood frozen.
“What exactly were you director of?”
Garrison glanced toward the cameras.
“Not here.”
Julian finally spoke.
“You're the Blackwood?”
Garrison looked at him.
“The?”
Julian's face had lost all color.
His attorney whispered something.
I heard only part of it.
“...state integrity task force... federal coordination...”
Then I remembered a photograph in Garrison's hallway.
He had been standing beside a governor.
Another beside three federal prosecutors.
Another showed him receiving a medal.
The quiet former sheriff across the road had not disappeared because he was irrelevant.
He had disappeared because he no longer needed attention.
Julian walked toward him.
“You've been investigating me this entire time.”
“No,” Garrison said.
Julian stopped.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“The investigation began because your financial records intersected with an existing case.”
“You used my wife.”
Garrison's expression changed.
“Careful.”
“You planted information—”
“I gave Emma a lawful copy of a medical report she had every right to confront through her attorney.”
“You destroyed my marriage.”
That was when I stepped forward.
“No.”
Julian looked at me.
“You destroyed our marriage when you lied to me for six years.”
He pointed toward Garrison.
“And now you're having his children?”
The courtyard went silent.
Garrison's face went completely blank.
Rebecca muttered, “Oh, for God's sake.”
I stared at Julian.
Then I laughed.
I couldn't help it.
“Is that what you think?”
“You're living with him.”
“I rent a room from him.”
“You expect anyone to believe—”
“The father isn't Garrison.”
His expression changed again.
Evelyn looked confused.
“Then who is?”
I placed one hand over my stomach.
“No one you know.”
That was technically true.
I had pursued motherhood using donor conception under Dr. Keller's care.
I had chosen a path that did not require another man to complete me.
Julian stared.
Slowly, understanding dawned.
“You used a donor.”
“Yes.”
His face twisted.
“You're having another man's children.”
“They're my children.”
He opened his mouth.
I stopped him.
“And unlike you, the donor's medical information was honest.”
Julian flinched.
Even Rebecca looked impressed.
Evelyn whispered, “This is obscene.”
I turned toward her.
“No. What was obscene was watching me undergo years of unnecessary shame because your son was afraid to tell the truth.”
I walked toward the car.
Behind me, Julian called my name.
I didn't turn around.
That evening, Garrison finally told me the rest.
After serving as sheriff, he had become founding director of the State Public Integrity and Healthcare Fraud Commission.
He had helped dismantle corruption networks worth hundreds of millions.
He had testified before congressional committees.
He had advised federal investigators.
Then Margaret became ill.
He stepped away to care for her.
After she died, he returned quietly to Cedar Hollow and refused every offer to reenter public life.
“Until now,” I said.
“Until Julian's financial transactions crossed an old case.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't want you wondering whether helping you was part of my work.”
“Was it?”
He looked directly at me.
“No.”
That mattered more than I expected.
I placed my hand on my stomach.
One baby kicked.
Then the other.
I smiled.
Garrison noticed.
“They moving?”
“Apparently they're having an argument.”
“Which one's winning?”
“The one on the left.”
“Smart kid.”
I laughed.
Then headlights appeared across the road.
A black Mercedes stopped outside Julian's house.
Two unmarked vehicles pulled in behind it.
Men and women wearing official jackets stepped out.
Garrison stood.
I looked at him.
“Is that what I think it is?”
He watched investigators walk toward Julian's door.
“Yes.”
“What happens now?”
Garrison's expression was grim.
“Now we find out how much Julian was willing to hide.”
Across the road, Julian opened his front door.
May you like
And for the first time since he had locked me outside it, he was the one who looked afraid.
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