“Then tell us.”
He said nothing.
Chloe gestured toward the box.
“Did you know Dad was sending Mom these invitations?”
“No.”
“Did you know he was asking her to contact us?”
Julian glanced at Elena.
“I was told that David had made it difficult.”
“By whom?”
His silence answered before he did.
Elena turned toward him.
“Julian, tell them.”
He looked at her, then at the guests.
“This is not the place.”
“Then where is the place?” she demanded. “When have we ever talked about this?”
The room shifted.
Something had changed between them. Elena was no longer standing beside a powerful man who could make her problems disappear.
She was standing beside someone whose version of their shared past might not survive another question.
Chloe looked at Julian.
“Did you tell her Dad was blocking her from contacting us?”
Julian exhaled.
“I told her what she told me.”
Elena froze.
