Chapter 189
Elara’s POV
Elara felt her entire body go cold.
“What did you say to me?”
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Julius’s smile widened slowly. “I asked how the kids are doing. Alexander and Catherine. It’s a simple and normal question, isn’t it? Parents love talking about their kids.”
Marcus was moving forward but Elara held up her hand, stopping him. She kept her eyes locked on Julius.
“How do you know my children’s names?”
“You told me in Santorini, didn’t you? When we talked about your pregnancy.”
“I didn’t even know I was having twins in Santorini. And I definitely didn’t know their names.” Elara took a step toward him now. “So I’m going to ask you one more time. How do you know my children’s names?”
Julius shrugged, completely unbothered by the accusation in her voice. “Social media, maybe? Or I overheard someone mention it. Does it really matter?”
“It matters that you showed up at my building in the middle of the night hours after my children were kidnapped and somehow know their names. It matters that you’re standing here asking about them like you know something.”
“I don’t know anything except what I saw on the news. Twin infants abducted from their grandmother’s car. Terrible tragedy. I came to offer my condolences and see if you needed anything.”
“At eleven PM?”
“I was in the neighborhood.”
Elara studied his face, looking for any crack in that pleasant expression. But Julius looked completely calm, like this was a normal conversation between casual acquaintances.
“I need you to leave,” Elara said.
“Of course. I didn’t mean to intrude during such a difficult time.” Julius reached into his jacket and pulled out a business card. “If you need anything, please call. I have resources that might help with the investigation.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“Are you sure? Because from where I’m standing, you look like someone who could use all the help she can get.” Julius held out the card but Elara didn’t take it. He set it on the security desk instead. “Just in case you change your mind.”
Elara turned her back on him and walked toward the elevator. She was done with this conversation, done with Julius and his weird timing and his knowledge of things he shouldn’t know.
17:12 Mon, May 11.
Chapter 189
“They really are beautiful children.” Julius called after her. “I bet they’re sleeping soundly right now Safe and warm in their little beds.”
Elara stopped walking.
Beds. Plural. Like he knew there were two cribs in the nursery.
She turned around slowly. “What did you just say?”
Julius tilted his head, that smile still fixed on his face. “I said your children are beautiful. I’ve seen photos.”
“What photos? Where?”
“Around. You know how the internet is. Everything gets shared eventually.”
“There are no photos of my children online. We specifically keep them off social media for privacy reasons.”
“Then maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe I saw them at the vow renewal tonight. Such a lovely ceremony, by the way. Very intimate.”
Elara felt her heart hammering against her ribs. “You weren’t at the vow renewal.”
“Wasn’t I? There were so many people there. Easy to blend in with the crowd.”
“There were fifty people. All friends and family. You weren’t there.”
Julius laughed softly. “You’re right, of course. I’m just confused. It’s been a long night for everyone.”
He turned and walked toward the exit. The security guard opened the door and Julius paused in the threshold, looking back at Elara one more time.
“I hope you find them soon. Your children. I’m sure whoever has them is taking very good care.”
Then he was gone, disappearing into the night before Elara could respond.
She stood frozen in the middle of the lobby, her mind racing. Everything about that conversation had been wrong. The timing, the questions, the way Julius had smiled when he mentioned the twins.
The security guard cleared his throat. “Mrs. Thorne? Are you alright?”
“Pull the footage from tonight. I want to see if that man has been here before.”
“Yes, ma’am. Should I call the police?”
“Yes. Tell them Julius Wellington was just here and he knows things about my children he shouldn’t know.”
Elara got in the elevator and rode back up to the penthouse. Her hands were shaking as she unlocked the door.
Everyone was exactly where she’d left them. Marcus at the window, Mimi pacing, Dante on his laptop, her mother in the armchair, Richard and Emeka standing near the bar.
17:12 Mon, May 11 …
Chapter 189
Marcus turned when he heard the door. “Who was it?”
“Julius.” Elara’s voice came out flat and distant.
Mimi stopped pacing. “Julius? As in Santorini Julius? Art auction Julius?”
“Aurora’s brother Julius.”
Marcus crossed the room in three long strides. “What did he want?”
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56 years
“I don’t know. He said he came to check on me, to see if I was okay after hearing about the kidnapping on the
news.”
“At eleven at night?”
“That’s what I said. But Marcus, there’s something else. He knows the twins’ names. He mentioned them specifically.”
Dante looked up from his laptop. “How would he know their names?”
“He claimed I told him in Santorini but I didn’t even know I was having twins back then. And he said something about them sleeping in their beds. Plural. Like he’s been in our home and knows we have two cribs.”
“That’s not public information,” Marcus said. “We’ve been very careful about privacy.”
Elara’s mother stood up. “Do you think he’s involved? Could he be the one who took them?”
“I don’t know. But everything about that conversation felt wrong. The timing, the things he knew, the way he smiled when he talked about them.”
Marcus was already pulling out his phone. “I’m calling Detective Rivera. Julius needs to be questioned immediately.”
“There’s more,” Elara said. “He mentioned the vow renewal. Said it was lovely and intimate. But he wasn’t there, Marcus. I would have noticed if Aurora’s brother showed up.”
Emeka pushed off from the bar. “So either he’s lying about being there, or he was watching from somewhere you didn’t see him.”
The thought made Elara’s skin crawl. The vow renewal had been in Central Park at night. Plenty of shadows. plenty of places for someone to watch without being noticed.
“We need everything on Julius Wellington,” Dante said, already typing. “Background, financials, known associates, travel records. If he’s involved in this we need to know how deep it goes.”
Richard was on his phone making calls. “I know people who can expedite warrants. Give me twenty minutes and the police will have access to everything.”
Marcus ended his call with the detective and looked at Elara. “Rivera’s sending officers to pick Julius up for questioning. Are you okay? Did he threaten you?”
17:12 Mon, May 11 M…
Chapter 189
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55 vouchers
“Not directly. But the whole thing felt like a threat. Like he wanted me to know he knows things. Like he was enjoying watching me panic.”
Mimi came over and hugged Elara. “That’s fucked up. Even for Aurora’s family that’s deeply fucked up.”
“I should have seen this coming. Julius was always too charming, too interested in my life. I thought he was just being friendly but maybe he was gathering information.”
“For what?” Marcus demanded. “What would Aurora’s brother want with our children?”
“Revenge maybe? For what we did to Aurora? Or money. He could be working with her.”
No one slept that night.
They sat in the living room as night bled into early morning, waiting for news that never came. The police called twice with updates that meant nothing. Still searching. Still investigating. Still no leads.
Elara watched the clock on the wall tick past 1 AM. Then 2 AM. Then 3 AM.
At 3:47 AM she must have dozed off because Marcus shaking her shoulder jolted her awake.
“El.”
“What? Did they find them?”
“No. But-”
The phone on the coffee table rang. Not Marcus’s cell or Elara’s. The landline that never rang because no one used landlines anymore.
Everyone in the room froze.
It rang again. Shrill and insistent in the silent apartment.
Marcus reached for it but Dante stopped him. “Let me trace it first.” He pulled out equipment from his bag and connected it to the phone line. “Okay. Answer on speaker.”
Marcus picked up. “Hello?”
A voice came through. Digitally distorted, impossible to identify. “We have your kids. Bring twenty million in cash. You involve the police, they’re dead.”
17:12 Mon, May 11 M…
