Chapter 10 - Rebecca Enters the Courtroom
Two federal marshals escorted Rebecca into court.
She was thinner than in the photographs.
A pale scar ran from her temple to her jaw.
Julian stared at her as if he had seen a ghost.
His mother, Evelyn, began crying in the gallery.
Rebecca did not look at either of them.
She looked at Claire.
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
Judge Brooks cleared the courtroom except for attorneys, officers, and immediate family.
Rebecca testified that Julian caused the crash eleven years earlier.
She had discovered him stealing investor money.
He drove her car off the road and believed she died.
She escaped the wreck but was badly injured.
Harrison arranged for her to be treated secretly, fearing Julian would return.
Then Harrison lost control of the situation.
Evelyn and Julian’s uncle moved Rebecca into Greenwood Behavioral Center under a false identity.
They told Harrison she had fled.
For years, Rebecca was drugged and isolated.
When Greenwood closed, Evelyn hid her at the family estate.
“Why didn’t you escape?” Julian’s attorney asked.
“They threatened Ethan.”
Rebecca explained that her brother had discovered where she was.
He tried to rescue her.
Julian threatened to frame him for assault and destroy Claire’s life if he continued.
Then Rebecca turned toward Claire.
“Ethan is not Maya’s father.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
Rebecca revealed that Julian had used fertility treatment without Claire’s knowledge.
He told Claire they were receiving ordinary hormone therapy after she struggled to conceive.
But the clinic used frozen embryos connected to the Mercer family trust.
The biological father was not Julian.
It was Harrison Mercer’s deceased younger son, Andrew.
Andrew died in a plane crash years before Claire met Julian.
His will created the $60 million trust for any biological child conceived from his stored genetic material.
Julian secretly arranged the procedure.
He wanted a child who could inherit Andrew’s fortune.
Maya was that child.
Claire stood in shock.
Julian had turned her pregnancy into a financial scheme.
Rebecca reached into her coat and produced a clinic ledger.
“Julian forged Claire’s consent.”
The judge examined the document.
Then Julian suddenly lunged across the table.
He grabbed the ledger and tore it in half.
The bailiff restrained him.
Rebecca remained calm.
May you like
“That was only the copy.”
👉 The original fertility records existed, and Rebecca knew exactly where Julian had hidden them.
