The Baby Couldn’t Tie Him, The Lie Did Chapter 05

The Baby Couldn’t Tie Him, The Lie Did Chapter 05

On the drive from the mansion to the hospital, Julian made twenty-five calls.

Every single one went straight to voicemail, followed by the same cold automated message.

By the time he arrived, his nerves were completely shot.

He blew through multiple red lights and pushed his car far past the speed limit, his grip on the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. He couldn’t even tell what scared him

more anymore.

That something had happened to Vivienne…

Or that she’d chosen to leave him.

The second he stepped into the hospital room and saw the empty bed, the last thread of

restraint snapped.

Julian turned and drove his foot straight into the lead bodyguard’s chest.

“I told you nobody gets in that room. Nobody.”

The guard stumbled back, face pale. “Mr. Everett, it was two doctors. They said…”

“I don’t care what they said!” Julian barked. “Find her!”

The entire floor descended into chaos.

A pair of hospital staff hurried him into the surveillance room, replaying security footage frame by frame while Julian stood there radiating fury.

Then suddenly:

“Pause it.”

His voice cut through the room like a knife.

On the screen, two doctors pushed Vivienne out in a wheelchair. One of them was slim,

masked, and completely covered from head to toe.

But her eyes…

Something about them felt familiar.

One of the staff members quickly checked the employee roster.

“Mr. Everett, she doesn’t work here. But an exterior camera caught the license plate when

they left. Maybe you can trace it.”

Julian glanced at the plate.

And instantly remembered where he’d seen it before.

By the time his car pulled into the Vance family estate, his legs felt strangely heavy.

Julian had always been rational. Calculating.

The partnership with the Vance family was only six months away from completion.

Confessing everything now would destroy years of work.

And Audrey…

She had been deceived too.

At the beginning, she hadn’t known Vivienne existed.

He had wronged both women.

But reality didn’t wait for him to figure out how to fix the mess he’d made.

The front door burst open upstairs the moment Audrey heard his car.

She came running down the staircase with a bright smile on her face.

“I told you not to miss me too much.” She looped her arm through his happily. “And yet you

still came after me.”

Before Julian could speak, she was already pulling him into the mansion.

“Mom! Dad! Julian’s here!”

For one dizzying second, Audrey’s smiling face overlapped with another girl from six years

ago.

Vivienne.

Back then, Julian had rejected his mother’s plans to send him overseas out of

pure

rebellion.

Instead, he enrolled at Saint Jude’s University in Oakhaven.

One afternoon after basketball practice, he walked out of the gym and found himself trapped

in a brutal downpour.

He’d been about to run straight through it when an umbrella suddenly appeared above his

head.

The girl holding it barely reached his shoulder.

When he looked down, all he saw was the bright red flush creeping across her ears.

“The guys’ dorm isn’t far,” she stammered softly. “I… I can walk you back.”

Cute.

And apparently a stutterer.

God knew what possessed him in that moment, but Julian reached over and stole the

umbrella from her hand.

“What if I wanted to walk home with my girlfriend instead?”

The color drained instantly from her face.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

She turned to leave immediately, embarrassed beyond belief, but Julian caught her wrist.

“I’m kidding.” He handed the umbrella back with a grin. “Thanks.”

Then he walked straight into the rain, leaving the poor girl frozen in place behind him.

That had been the first time they were ever alone together.

After that, he started running into her everywhere.

The library.

The track field.

Coffee shops near campus.

And every single time Vivienne saw him, she’d immediately lower her head and pretend to be

busy.

Julian wasn’t stupid.

He knew that girl liked him.

But was it genuine?

Men like him didn’t grow up believing in pure intentions. Not in their world.

People lied. Manipulated. Used affection like currency.

Sometimes the most beautiful things came wrapped in poison.

He kept waiting for Vivienne to ask him for something.

Money.

Connections.

Status.

Anything.

But she never did.

Not once.

Even after graduation, she never approached him.

It was nothing more than a quiet, hopeless crush she carried alone for years.

And for some reason, that bothered the hell out of him.

So in the end, Julian shattered her peaceful little world himself.

With a confession so aggressive she never even had the chance to run.