Chapter 16 - The Mother Who Created Him
Gillian arrived at Naomi’s office with her own attorney.
Her accounts remained frozen.
Her cream jacket had been replaced by a plain gray suit.
The gold jewelry was gone.
She asked to negotiate.
Naomi placed a recorder on the table.
Gillian looked toward Hailey.
“I regret how things appeared outside the hospital.”
Hailey stared at her.
“You regret the camera angle?”
Gillian’s lips tightened.
“I was under stress.”
“You were sitting in a leather seat while I stood on a sidewalk after surgery.”
“Jasper told me you had arranged another ride.”
“He handed me bus fare in front of you.”
“I assumed it was symbolic.”
Hailey almost admired the audacity.
Gillian’s attorney intervened.
“My client is prepared to provide information about Mr. Cole’s financial conduct.”
“In exchange for what?” Naomi asked.
“Release of her personal accounts and protection from criminal referral.”
Naomi opened the recovered transcript.
“You helped forge the signature.”
Gillian looked at Jasper’s recorded image on the paused screen.
“He pressured me.”
“You deleted camera footage.”
“He instructed me.”
“You created a false guardianship petition.”
“I believed Hailey was unstable.”
Hailey leaned forward carefully.
“What made you believe that?”
“You cried constantly.”
“I had been isolated, monitored, and manipulated.”
“You were too sensitive for our family.”
There it was.
Not regret.
Contempt.
Gillian believed suffering was weakness unless it belonged to her.
Hailey asked one final question.
“Why did you hate me?”
Gillian looked genuinely surprised.
“I didn’t hate you.”
“You humiliated me at my wedding. You opened my mail. You told Jasper to separate me from my father. You tried to take my baby.”
Gillian’s answer came without emotion.
“You had everything Jasper deserved.”
Charles, seated beside Hailey, went still.
Gillian continued.
“You were born into wealth. Jasper worked twice as hard and still had to ask your father for respect.”
“He forged my name.”
“Because your family would never have trusted him with real power.”
Hailey finally understood.
Gillian had raised Jasper to believe that wanting something made him entitled to it.
Every boundary became an insult.
Every refusal became oppression.
Every person became an obstacle.
Naomi slid the cooperation agreement away.
“There will be no immunity.”
Gillian’s face changed.
“You need my testimony.”
“We have your voice, your signature-tracing footage, your banking records, and your daughter.”
At the mention of Priscilla, Gillian lost control.
“That traitor knows nothing.”
“She knows enough.”
Gillian stood.
“You will regret turning Toby against his family.”
Hailey rose slowly despite the pain.
“Toby’s family is whoever keeps him safe.”
Gillian stared at her.
For years, Hailey had lowered her eyes around this woman.
Not anymore.
Hospital footage, financial records, and hidden-camera recordings were submitted to prosecutors.
Jasper, Gillian, and several corporate accomplices were formally charged.
But before the custody hearing, Jasper made one final public move.
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He released a statement accusing Hailey’s father of destroying their marriage to seize control of Cole Urban Development.
👉 Jasper tried to turn public sympathy against Hailey—but one live interview exposed the cruelty he had fought to hide.
