Chapter 444

[ 1,002 words ]

Katia’s POV

“That does not make it right,” Julian said. “She just handed the entire city a lie about herself to protect a truth about you. If anything happens because of that, if Tessa digs deeper and finds something that contradicts what Gail just claimed, the fallout lands on her, not on either of us p>

“I know,” I said. “I have been sitting here thinking about exactly that since the moment she opened her mouth p>

Julian reached for his phone, already typing something, his jaw set with the sharp focus I recognized whenever he moved from worry into action.

“I am calling her,” he said.

The call went straight to voicemail. He tried twice more with the same result before finally setting the phone down, frustration visible in the tight line of his shoulders.

“She is avoiding everyone,” he said. “For now, at least p>

“Give her the evening,” I said. “She just did something enormous for us. She probably needs a few hours before she is ready to explain herself to anyone, even you p>

Julian did not look entirely convinced, but he let the phone rest, and I watched him fold the worry down into something quieter, the way he always did when there was nothing left to act on immediately.

Noah and Delia arrived for dinner that evening, an invitation Julian and I had extended days earlier, before any of thishad happened, and neither of us had found a good reason to cancel it once Gail’s press conference upended the entire week. Some part of me had actually hoped their company might offer a distraction from everything still unsettled about the day, though the topic proved impossible to avoid once we all sat down together.

We ate at the smaller table in the kitchen rather than the formal dining room, something Julian preferred when it was only the four of us, and the conversation eventually drifted, as it seemed destined to all evening, toward the headline still dominating every screen in the city.

“So Julian’s own sister is Catwoman,” Delia said, setting down her glass. “That must have been quite the surprise for you both p>

“It was,” Julian said carefully.

“I still cannot believe it,” Noah said, shaking his head. “Gail. Of all people. She always seemed so composed, so careful. I would never have guessed she was living an entire secret life underground p>

“People carry more than they show,” I said.

“Clearly,” Delia said, something almost amused in her voice now. “The whole city spent months trying to unmask her, and it turns out she was simply sitting at family dinners the entire time p>

“Do you think she will actually keep racing,” Noah asked, “now that everyone knows her face p>

“I doubt it,” Julian said. “Once an identity like that becomes public, it loses most of what made it useful in the first place. Anonymity was always the point p>

“It must be strange,” Delia said, “watching someone you have known your entire life turn out to have this whole other version of herself nobody suspected. Do you think there is more she has kept from the family p>

“I would not know,” Julian said, his tone even despite the question landing closer to the truth than Delia could possibly realize. “None of us fully know each other the way we assume we do, I suppose. Even within the same family p>

I decided the moment needed redirecting before the conversation went any further into territory that made me increasingly uneasy.

“Julian,” I said, “how are you actually going to get proof about your parents’ car, whether it was truly tampered with p>

The table went quiet in a different way now, the earlier lightness replaced by something heavier.

“We reopen the case,” Julian said. “Officially. Marcus has already started the paperwork. It will take time; forensic evidence this old is never simple to reconstruct, but if there is anything left to find, we intend to find it p>

“That could not have been easy to decide,” I said.

“It was not,” Julian said. “But I would rather know the truth than keep living beside a question I have carried without answers for most of my life p>

Noah set his fork down, something thoughtful crossing his face.

“If you find what you are looking for,” he said quietly, “it changes everything about my own family too. I do not know if I am ready for whatever that answer turns out to be, honestly. But I understand why you cannot keep living without it p>

“I appreciate you saying that,” Julian said.

Delia said nothing, her eyes fixed on her plate, and I wondered how much of this conversation was landing somewhere she had not yet found the words to share with either of us.

The table settled into a quiet stretch after that, everyone processing it in their own way, and I let the silence sit for a moment before deciding to shift the mood entirely.

“So,” I said, looking at Delia and Noah, “how is married life treating you both p>

Delia’s fork paused halfway to her mouth. She looked at me, something complicated moving behind her eyes, and did not answer.

Noah reached over and took her hand.

I found Gail in the estate’s garden the next morning, sitting alone on one of the stone benches near the fountain, a mug of tea untouched on the seat beside her.

She looked up when she heard me approaching, and something in her expression braced immediately, as though she had been expecting this conversation since the moment she walked away from that podium.

“You are angry with me,” she said, before I had even sat down.

“I am not angry,” I said, settling onto the bench beside her. “I am confused. And worried. That was not the plan, Gail. We had a real strategy, witnesses, and an explanation that did not require you to lie to the entire city about who you are p>

“I know,” she said quietly.

“Then why,” I said. “Why did you do it p>

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