Page 102 of Secret Heir For The Billionaire Twin

Chapter Fifteen

Sophie

Julian leads me through the quieter side of the house, past a series of rooms that feel less staged than the entrance hall and more lived in. Family photographs interrupt the artwork along the walls, some formal and others candid enough that I have to slow down to take them in. There is Adrian laughing with a glass in his hand at what looks like a summer lunch, Katherine standing beside a stone terrace with one arm around each of her sons, Richard much younger and noticeably less polished than the man I know from photographs now.

Julian notices where my attention lands.

“You’re looking at the evidence,” he says.

“Evidence of what?”

“That we were occasionally allowed to behave like normal people.”

I smile. “Occasionally?”

“Very.”

He stops beside an old black-and-white photograph of Richard standing with Julian’s grandfather in front of a much smaller property. The image is framed simply, without a plaque or any indication that it carries more significance than the others.

“My grandfather bought the original portion of the estate,” Julian says.

“My father expanded it later.”

“You sound like you’re describing an acquisition.”

“That’s probably because my family has always been better at acquiring things than discussing them.”

The answer pulls a laugh from me, but the humor doesn’t stay on his face for long.

We continue into a smaller library where several cabinets hold documents, ledgers, photographs, and correspondence spanning decades. It is not the corporate archive I saw in New York. These records are personal, the kind of material families keep because throwing it away feels too much like erasing something.

Julian opens one cabinet and removes a leather-bound ledger.

“This belonged to my grandfather,” he says.

“He kept records of everything. Property improvements, investments, repairs. Even household expenses.”

I turn several pages carefully. The handwriting is compact and exact.

“He was meticulous.”

“He was terrified of losing what he built.”

I look up.

Julian is studying the ledger rather than me.

“That fear seems to run in the family.”

His eyes lift.

There is no offense in his expression, only a quiet recognition that I have said something true.

“Probably,” he replies.

I close the ledger and rest my hand over the cover.

“Do you ever think about what all of this means beyond the company?”