Chapter 6: Julian’s Reckoning**
Julian found Claire outside her attorney’s office in the pouring rain. He stepped out of his town car without an umbrella, his expensive wool coat soaking through within seconds. "Claire," he called out, his voice cracking beneath the city’s roar. Claire stopped on the wet pavement, turning slowly to face the man who had promised to love her when they were penniless college students.
"Stay away from me, Julian," she said, her voice dropping into a razor-thin calm. "I didn't know," he pleaded, taking a desperate step forward. "My mother told me you left for Europe with a check. I swear to God, Claire, I thought you abandoned us." Claire stared at him, neither crying nor raising her voice. "You chose to believe a lie because the truth would have cost you your inheritance. You sacrificed your soul for an office with a view, Julian. But you won’t keep my boy." She turned and vanished into the subway station, leaving Julian standing alone in the rain, drowning in the wreckage of his own cowardice.
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