Julian glanced at the guests.
“I didn’t know what David would do.”
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
“You never asked me,” I said.
He looked at me.
“No.”
“You never contacted me.”
“No.”
“You never spoke to a lawyer about arranging visits.”
He hesitated.
“I spoke to someone about the possible consequences.”
“Who?”
“My attorney.”
“And what did he tell you?”
Julian’s face tightened.
“That I had no authority over your children and that any decision about contact belonged to their parents and, as they grew older, to the children themselves.”
Chloe stared at him.
“So you knew you couldn’t stop Dad from allowing Mom to see us.”
Julian did not answer.
“You knew that,” she repeated, “and you still let her believe he was keeping us away.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
Elena staggered backward.
She caught the edge of the table and gripped it with both hands.
