Chapter 2 - The Little Girl in the Rainbow Dress
Julian crossed the ballroom without hurrying.
That was one of the things I loved about him.
He never hurried merely because other people expected him to.
Emma waved from my arms.
“Daddy!”
Julian lifted the silver shoes.
“I believe I found Cinderella’s missing property.”
Emma giggled.
“You found them!”
“Under a table.”
“They escaped.”
“Interesting defense.”
I smiled.
Julian reached us and kissed my temple.
“There you are.”
Three ordinary words.
Yet Marcus looked as though someone had removed the floor beneath him.
Julian glanced at him.
Then Chloe.
Then back at me.
He could read a room faster than anyone I knew.
“Everything okay?”
“Perfectly.”
Emma pointed at Marcus.
“Mommy was talking.”
Julian smiled politely.
“I noticed.”
Marcus finally found his voice.
“Julian.”
Julian looked at him.
“Marcus.”
The difference between their tones was almost funny.
Marcus sounded as though he had encountered a judge unexpectedly.
Julian sounded as though he had encountered someone from a meeting.
They shook hands.
“Didn’t realize you were attending,” Marcus said.
“Rebecca invited us.”
Us.
Marcus looked at me.
Then Emma.
Then Julian.
His mind was working quickly.
“You know Evelyn?”
Julian’s eyes moved toward me.
A tiny smile appeared.
“You could say that.”
Emma solved the mystery.
“That’s Mommy.”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“And you’re Daddy.”
Julian nodded solemnly.
“Still true.”
I had to hide a smile.
Chloe didn’t.
She looked confused rather than amused.
Marcus stared at Julian’s left hand.
Wedding ring.
Then mine.
My ring wasn’t enormous.
Julian knew I disliked enormous jewelry.
It was an antique-cut diamond set in platinum, elegant and simple.
Marcus had apparently failed to notice it earlier.
Now he couldn’t stop looking at it.
“Evelyn,” he said.
I waited.
“You’re married to Julian Rhodes?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Around us, conversations continued.
Glasses clinked.
The band began testing microphones.
But inside our small circle, everything had become very still.
Marcus knew Julian professionally.
Everyone in Boston finance knew Julian professionally.
Rhodes Capital had grown from a modest investment partnership into one of the most respected private investment firms in the Northeast.
But that wasn’t why I had married him.
I married him because when my mother had surgery, Julian slept in a hospital chair beside me without complaining.
Because he knew I hated raisins.
Because he read Emma the same bedtime story three times if she asked.
Because the first time I told him about Marcus, he never asked why I had stayed so long.
He simply listened.
Marcus knew none of those things.
He only knew the balance sheets.
That was his language.
“I didn’t know,” Marcus said.
“I gathered that.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“And she’s—”
He looked at Emma.
“My daughter,” Julian said.
There was no hostility in his voice.
Just clarity.
Emma was technically four and had been born after Julian and I had already built a life together. There was nothing complicated about the timeline, but Marcus seemed to be calculating it anyway.
Chloe looked at me differently now.
The contempt was gone.
Something colder had replaced it.
Comparison.
I recognized it because I had once done the same thing.
I had compared myself to Chloe until I nearly disappeared.
Her hair.
Her clothes.
Her laugh.
Her confidence.
Now she was looking at me as though trying to understand how the discarded wife had ended up standing beside Julian Rhodes.
“Congratulations,” she said.
“Thank you.”
Marcus cleared his throat.
“You never mentioned this.”
I almost smiled.
“We haven’t spoken in five years.”
“But people talk.”
“Apparently not to you.”
Julian glanced between us.
“You two know each other?”
Marcus answered before I could.
“We were married.”
Julian looked at me.
I nodded.
“This is Marcus.”
Recognition appeared.
Not surprise.
Julian knew Marcus was my ex-husband.
He simply hadn’t known what Marcus looked like.
“Oh,” Julian said.
One syllable.
Marcus seemed offended by how little importance Julian gave the revelation.
Emma tugged Julian’s sleeve.
“Shoes.”
“Right.”
He crouched.
I lowered Emma to the floor.
Julian slipped one silver shoe onto her foot.
Then the other.
Emma rested her hands on his shoulders.
Watching them together made the rest of the ballroom disappear for me.
There had been a time when I thought I would never trust anyone enough to build a family.
Then Julian had arrived without trying to rescue me.
That mattered.
He never treated me as damaged.
He treated me as capable.
Emma hopped once.
“Better?”
Julian asked.
“No.”
He laughed.
“At least you’re honest.”
She reached for me again.
I lifted her.
Marcus was still watching.
“So,” he said slowly, “Rhodes Capital.”
Julian stood.
“What about it?”
“Our teams have been talking.”
“I’m aware.”
Marcus smiled, but it looked forced now.
“I suppose this makes things interesting.”
Julian’s expression changed slightly.
“How?”
Marcus glanced at me.
“You’re married to my ex-wife.”
“And?”
“And your company is negotiating to acquire mine.”
“Those are separate matters.”
The calmness of Julian’s answer made Marcus visibly uncomfortable.
He had expected leverage.
Or favoritism.
Or conflict.
Julian offered none.
“The acquisition process is handled by an independent deal team,” Julian continued. “Evelyn has no involvement.”
Marcus looked at me.
“No involvement?”
“None.”
That was true.
When Julian first told me Rhodes Capital was considering Mercer Strategic Holdings, I had immediately disclosed my prior marriage.
Then I went further.
I told him I had historical records related to Mercer.
Julian didn’t ask to see them.
He called outside counsel.
They instructed both of us to preserve everything and keep me completely separated from the transaction unless formally requested.
That was exactly what we had done.
Marcus knew nothing about that conversation.
Yet.
“I see,” he said.
Chloe tugged his arm.
“We should find our table.”
But Marcus didn’t move.
He was staring at me.
“I thought you left Boston.”
“I did.”
“For how long?”
“Two years.”
“And then you came back?”
“Yes.”
“You changed your name?”
“No.”
That bothered him.
If he had searched carefully, he could have found me.
He simply hadn’t cared enough to look.
Or he had been too certain there was nothing worth finding.
Julian glanced toward the dance floor.
“Emma, Grandma is looking for you.”
Emma turned.
My mother stood nearby waving.
“Grandma!”
I lowered Emma.
“Walk.”
“I know.”
She walked for approximately three seconds before running again.
Julian sighed.
“We’re excellent parents.”
“The best.”
He smiled at me.
Marcus watched the exchange.
Then he said something unexpected.
“Can we talk privately?”
Julian looked at me.
Not possessively.
Not suspiciously.
He left the decision to me.
“What about?” I asked.
“Old business.”
“There is no old business.”
“There might be.”
Chloe’s expression sharpened.
“Marcus.”
He ignored her.
“Five minutes, Evelyn.”
I considered it.
“No.”
His face tightened.
“Why?”
“Because we’re at my cousin’s wedding.”
“I’m not trying to cause a scene.”
“Then don’t.”
Julian slipped his hand into mine.
Marcus saw it.
Something flashed in his expression.
Not love.
Possession.
It was astonishing how some people could stop wanting you but still resent anyone else for having you.
Rebecca approached before Marcus could respond.
“There you are!” she said too loudly.
My cousin hugged me.
Then she looked at Marcus.
“Oh. Hi.”
Marcus smiled.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
Rebecca turned immediately back to me.
“Photos in five minutes.”
“I’ll be there.”
She leaned toward my ear.
“Do I need security?”
I laughed.
“No.”
“Pity. I paid for them.”
She walked away.
Julian touched my elbow.
“Want to get some air?”
“Actually, yes.”
We turned.
“Evelyn.”
Marcus’s voice stopped me.
I looked back.
His expression had changed again.
Less smug.
More focused.
“What?”
He lowered his voice.
“Does Julian know everything about you?”
I stared at him.
“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“You know.”
“No. I don’t.”
Marcus glanced toward Julian.
Then back at me.
“The files.”
My pulse changed.
Barely.
But Julian noticed.
Marcus noticed too.
Five years.
Five years without a word about those records.
And suddenly he was asking.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said carefully.
His smile returned.
But this time it contained no confidence.
Only fear.
“Yes, you do.”
Chloe stepped closer.
“What files?”
Marcus looked at her sharply.
“Nothing.”
That single word told me more than everything else he had said.
Chloe didn’t know.
Whatever Marcus feared, he had hidden it from her too.
Julian’s phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
His expression became serious.
“What is it?” I asked.
He looked at Marcus.
Then at me.
“My general counsel.”
Marcus went completely still.
Julian opened the message.
His eyes moved across the screen.
Then he looked at me.
“Evelyn.”
Something in his voice made my stomach tighten.
“What?”
He turned the phone so only I could see it.
There was one sentence on the screen.
The Mercer acquisition has been suspended. New information just came in.
And beneath it was the name of the person who had sent the information.
I read it twice.
May you like
Then I looked up at Chloe.
Because the name was hers...
