Julian looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Ask her.”
Julian turned.
I folded my arms.
“It’s called Aurora.”
His eyebrows rose.
Even Julian knew that name.
Everyone in clean energy did.
Aurora Systems had quietly become one of the most promising private climate-technology companies in America.
Its technology could reduce industrial carbon emissions at a fraction of existing costs.
The founder’s identity had never been publicly disclosed.
Julian stared at me.
“No.”
Daniel smiled.
“Yes.”
Julian looked around my modest kitchen as though expecting hidden cameras.
“You own Aurora Systems?”
“Seventy-two percent.”
“How much is it worth?”
“Last funding round?”
I pretended to think.
“About four-point-eight billion.”
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Daniel took a sip of coffee.
“I’ve waited years for that face.”
I couldn’t help smiling.
Julian pointed at me.
“You let me think you were broke.”
“I didn’t let you think anything. You did that yourself.”
He sat down.
For perhaps the first time in his life, Julian Vance looked genuinely humbled.
Then Emma entered.
“Mommy, Sophie says Grace cheated.”
“I did not!” Grace yelled from the other room.
“You moved the card!”
“It was already moving!”
“That doesn’t make sense!”
Emma looked at Julian.
“Do you know Go Fish?”
He blinked.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She grabbed his hand.
“Come prove Grace is cheating.”
Julian looked at me.
I shrugged.
“You heard her.”
Emma dragged the billionaire founder of Vance Energy into the playroom.
Daniel and I remained behind.
His amusement disappeared.
“Evelyn.”
“What?”
“There’s more.”
My stomach tightened.
“To Project Juniper?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
He looked toward the playroom.
“Richard wasn’t the only person involved.”
“Who else?”
“I never found out.”
“What do you mean?”
“After Richard d/i/ed, I assumed Juniper ended.”
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“Three weeks ago, someone tried to access Aurora’s private patent archive.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because they failed.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I didn’t want to worry you until I knew what we were dealing with.”
I took his phone.
A security report filled the screen.
The access attempt originated from a server registered to a Vance Energy subsidiary.
My heart dropped.
“Julian?”
“I don’t know.”
From the playroom came Emma’s delighted scream.
“Tall Man lost!”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Someone at Vance Energy is still running Juniper.”
I looked through the doorway.
Julian sat cross-legged on the rug.
Sophie was explaining the rules.
Grace was rearranging his cards because apparently he was holding them incorrectly.
Emma had climbed halfway onto his back.
He looked ridiculous.
And happy.
Painfully happy.
Then Julian glanced up.
Our eyes met.
For one dangerous second, I saw the man I had loved.
Not the billionaire.
Not my ex-husband.
Just Julian.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Evelyn, whoever is behind Juniper knows about the girls.”
I turned sharply.
“What?”
He showed me another file.
Three photographs.
Sophie leaving kindergarten.
Grace at ballet.
Emma holding my hand outside a pediatric clinic after a routine appointment.
My stomach turned.
“Where did you get these?”
“They were attached to the attempted breach.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
A message accompanied them.
Only seven words.
THE VANCE HEIRS CHANGE EVERYTHING. FINISH JUNIPER.
I felt the floor tilt beneath me.
Richard had been d/e/@/d for three years.
Yet someone was still watching my daughters.
And suddenly I understood something terrifying.
The secret I had spent five years protecting had not been discovered by accident.
Someone had been waiting for Julian and me to meet again.
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