All the wrong places episode 7

🌼ALL THE WRONG PLACES🌼
🌻EPISODE SEVEN🌻

When Julianne arrived in Chicago, she received word
that things were already under control. She knew that since
River made up the disaster, he took it upon himself to fix
everything before she arrived. So, she really didn’t have to
do anything.
“I know you wouldn’t ask me this if it weren’t really that
important. You’ve had a long flight. Go have a rest,” he told
her on the phone. “I’ll call you the day after tomorrow and
we can have dinner. You’re gonna have to tell me all about
it.”

She was reluctant to tell River the wh0le story, but she
owed him the truth. And she knew he would take nothing
less from her. Besides, it would feel good to take this all out
of her chest.
True to his word, two days later, she received a text
message from him telling her he would take her out for
dinner. It had been a long time since she went out on a
date. She almost forgot how to dress properly.
Finally, when River Jefferson picked her up at the Adams
mansion, Julianne looked beautiful and elegant, dressed in a
sleeveless white dress with a flared knee-length skirt. It
hugged her body to perfection and displayed her long legs.
“Wow,” River breathed. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you. You don’t look bad yourself.”
He took her to an Italian restaurant, which she was
grateful for. Living in Italy for a long time, she had grown
accustomed to its food. But since she returned to Chicago,
she barely ate Italian food.
“So, Justin’s quite happy that the so-called disaster, had
been fully placed under control,” Julianne said after they
both placed their orders. She took a sip of her wine.

“I’m sure he is,” River said. “He was quite upset when I
spoke to him on the phone. You know him. He wants no
disaster attached to your company’s reputation.”
“He’s quite a perfectionist.”
“Now, do you mind telling me why I had to orchestrate
chaos and lie to the most cynical person I’ve known in my
life? Do you know how difficult it is to lie—to Justin Adams? I
know you were in trouble. I’d like to know what that trouble
was. And what extent.”
Julianne sighed. She knew she could not escape this. But
somehow, she had a feeling that she could trust River. And
right now, that’s what she needed. A person she could trust.
“I told you before that I have a son, right?”
“Yes. Six-year-old Jared Sanders,” River replied.

Julianne nodded, pouring herself another glass of wine.
She really needed liquid courage. “I told you that I got
pregnant with him when I went to Paris.”
“Yes. You fake named a guy. But you fell in love with him.
And that short-lived rom-nce bore a son. To this day, he
doesn’t know who you really were.”
Julianne shook her head wearily. “I’m afraid, that’s no
longer the case.”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw him again. In Paris.”
“Oh, of course. As soon as you get back there, the first
person you met was the father of your son. Destiny has
ways of making things work out, huh.”
Julianne shook her head again. “Maybe. But this time,
destiny decided to play with my fate.”
River stared at her face for a moment. He didn’t say
anything. He just waited for her to continue her story.
Tears started to well up in Julianne’s eyes as she was
again reminded of the gravity of her situation.
“I… gave him a fake name,” she said. “It turned out, so
did he.”

“Wait, what?”
“His name wasn’t Jas Mathieu, like he said when he
introduced himself. He paints but he wasn’t a struggling
painter who was trying to make ends meet, waiting for his
break to come. He didn’t live in a studio apartment where
he painted and lived at the same time. He wasn’t a hand to
mouth guy who was only armed with principles, values and
lessons in life.”
“Okay. Then what is he?”
Julianne heaved a very deep, frustrated sigh. “He paints,
maybe just for leisure. He didn’t need to make money out of
his paintings no matter how good he was. He actually
owned several estates and a couple of dozen hotel
properties. He wasn’t just armed with principles and all that
shit. He was loaded… fully… loaded. He’s like an nth
generation freaking billionaire!” Tears rolled down her
cheeks. “I left him, because I was protecting him from my
father. From the McAllisters. I thought… if I stayed with him,
they would ruin his life and he would be helpless to stand up
for himself. It turned out… he was probably richer than my
father and Patrick McAllister—combined!”
River raised a brow at her, urging her to continue.

“God, I thought I was protecting him from my family. But
it seemed that he was protecting himself from me. He must
have thought I would be after his money. He didn’t trust me
enough to tell me who he really was.”
“And are you… going to tell me who he really is though?”
Julianne sighed. “His real name is… Jin Adrien Starck.”
River stared at her in shock. From the look on his face,
Julianne could instantly tell that River knew who Jin Starck
was.
Of course! Who wouldn’t!? Jin Starck was probably just as
rich as Justin Adams!
“What did you do?” River asked, obviously concerned.
“I fainted,” Julianne responded.
“That’s quick thinking.”
“Except I didn’t fake that. I really did faint,” Julianne said.

“For years, my brother and my cousins had made it their life
mission to hunt down the father of my son to make him pay
for what he did to me. It would be a bloodbath if they found
out he was just right under their noses this wh0le time.”
“So, you met Jin Starck in Paris, realized he was the guy
who turned your world upside down seven years ago,” River
said. “But you couldn’t tell anyone because your family will
murder him. And that would start a war of clans, leaving
Adrienne and Jared in the middle.”
Julianne drank her wine and said, “Bingo!”
“So, when everything unfolded before you, you decided
to run. Instead of face Jin Starck or your family.”

“You’re right again.” She took another sip of her wine.
“So, what’s your plan now?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I really don’t. Or
maybe I could just keep on fainting every time he appears in
the same room as me!”
“You know Jin Starck is not a very gracious and forgiving
man, don’t you?”
“So, I’ve heard. Before I found out he was Jas Mathieu, I
was almost afraid to meet him. Apparently, he could be
quite a monster.”
“But your son deserves to know his father. Every child
does. Believe me. I grew up without a father. All those years,
I wanted nothing more than to get to know him. And to
know if he accepts me. I still have that yearning once in a
while.”

“How am I going to do that without striking chaos in my
family? I cannot control my brother’s thoughts. Or Justin’s.
Okay, maybe Justin will be willing to sit this one out for
Adrienne’s sake. But what about Gian? Worse, Jordan and
Mason!”
“Yeah, the prodigal son and Denis the Menace,” River
nodded. Ian suddenly realized how well-acquainted he was
with her family.

“Moreover, I cannot control Jin’s reaction. Thank God I
fainted when I saw him. I must have made quite a scene
when I collapsed in his arms. But for sure that would be
nothing compared to the scene we would have created if we
confronted each other there.”
“So, what happened afterwards?”
“I woke up in a room with Adrienne, Justin and my
brother,” Julianne replied. “That night was supposed to be
Jin’s engagement party. He was expected to propose to
Vanessa Bernard.”

“Oh yeah, you told me about that. The proposal party.
What happened? Did he propose?”
Julianne shook her head. “He didn’t. But in his speech, he
was talking about how bullshit rom-nce was and how you
shouldn’t believe in happily ever afters. He even looked at
me when he said that.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded.
River looked at her thoughtfully. “Do you have a picture
of your son in your phone? May I see it?”

Julianne scanned her phone for a good photo of Jared.
River looked at her son’s photo with a shocked expression
on his face.
“Well, hello there, little Jin Starck.”
Julianne gro-ned.
“The boy is a spitting image of his father. The only reason
nobody suspected that before was because nobody knew of
your connection in Paris.”
“I know.”
“But you know there is one other person who knows
about that connection now.”
“Yes. You!” Julianne drank another glass of wine.

“No, silly! Jin Starck, himself. He can take one look at
your son, remember that night you spent together and
boom! He’s smart enough to put that together.”
“I know. That’s why I left. And Jared followed soon after. I
took my son’s phone away. I want to make sure Jin Starck
cannot contact him. I’m not sure how to get out of this
situation with minimal damage to Jared and my family.”
Tears rolled down Julianne’s cheek. River reached forward
and handed her a tissue.
“Ssshh… I’m sure there is a way out of this.”

“How? Jin Starck is a powerful man. What if he takes my
son away from me?”
“I know he can be ruthless. But I’m sure he’s not that
much of a monster. He won’t make his own son motherless.”
“But Jared is mine! He’s mine!” Julianne could taste
desperation at the tip of her tongue.
River shook his head. “Unfortunately, he’s not just yours,
sweetheart. He’s Jin Starck’s too. And do you realize the
kind of life Starck can offer him?”
“I know that now. Jared can have the moon and the stars
if Jin recognizes him. But… he doesn’t need that. He needs
me. He needs love, affection. He needs family.”

“Jared needs a mother and a father,” River said. “That’s
the only way he can be complete.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that when the time is right, you have to tell
Jin the truth. And you have to let him into your son’s life if
he wants to be a part of it,”
Julianne took another gulp of her wine. “You’re supposed
to be on my side!”
“I am. And you know it’s the right thing to do.”
“What about Justin? Gian? My family? They want to
murder Jin for what happened to me in Paris!”
“Well… you let Jin handle that. I’m sure he’s tough
enough to hold his ground, defend himself.”

“None of it was his fault. I was the one who hid my
identity from him,” Julianne admitted.
“Well, sweetheart, he did the same thing to you too. And
who knows what his reason was?”
Yeah. Why did he hide his identity in the first place?
“Holy shit! What if he just wanted to get into my p-nts
and disappear after that night without a trace? Maybe that’s
why he gave me a fake name.”
River stared at her for a moment and then shrugged. “I
can’t defend the guy. I don’t know him well enough. And I
certainly did not meet him at the time you met him, so I
couldn’t really say for sure what his intentions were. And
when I met him… well, he wasn’t a very jolly person.”
“You mean to say, as far as you know, he’s always been
an ass?”
River shrugged again and took a sip of his wine.
“You could have done that to him. Maybe you broke his
heart.”

“Or maybe that was the real him all along. The person I
met was wearing a mask and putting on a show to get
in,side my p-nts.”
“Any regrets?”
“No. I will never regret having Jared. Jin Starck can do
whatever he wants and I don’t f-cking give a damn as long
as he leaves his son alone with me!”
River raised his glass towards her. “Well, may the odds
be always in your favor.”
By the end of the night, Julianne was really glad she told
River everything. For the first time in years, she felt a little
lighter. It was nice to finally be able to speak to somebody
about her past, what happened in Paris, and the father of
the son she loved so much.

If Jin Starck would not be interested in the paternity of
Jared, then everything would be perfect. She could go on
with her life and focus on her plan. She had a long way to go
to make her dreams for Jared come true. And Jin Starck
messing that up was out of the equation.
River dropped her off at the Adams’s mansion by
midnight.
“Well, it’s been great,” River said.
“Indeed, it is,” Julianne agreed. “Thank you. I feel… really
better. I’ve been keeping a lot of things to myself for at least
seven years.”

“That must have been pretty tough,” River said, smiling
apologetically. “Well, you can call me anytime if you feel like
talking to anyone. We’re best friends, remember?”
Julianne laughed. “Well, I’ll definitely remember that.”
Suddenly River whistled. Julianne turned to what he was
looking at. She saw a new green Ferrari parked in the
driveway.
“I thought Justin was not allowed to buy a new car
anymore,” River commented.
It was also the first time she’s seen the bright green
Ferrari that River was admiring. She was not surprised. If it
weren’t for Adrienne controlling Justin, he would be sporting
a new sports car every week. It was sort of his ‘vice’.

“I’ve just seen that car in a magazine last week,” River
said. “I wonder what Justin did to make Adrienne say yes to
a new car.”
“Adrienne has been controlling Justin from spending too
much on cars. She wanted to show their kids the value of
money.”
“That’s good. Just because you’re born to privilege does
not mean you don’t need to work hærd to keep what you
have.”

“Yes. Because even if you are born to privilege, you can
lose all that. Trust me, I know. First-hand experience.”
“Your parents took away everything when they found out
you were pregnant?”
Julianne nodded sadly. “Jewelry. Trust fund. Credit card.
Savings account. Property. I didn’t even get to say goodbye
to my glass bottle collection.”
“That’s… harsh.”
“Well, I brought shame to the family. And for my father…
our name was everything. I was engaged to Patrick
McAllister and we had to break the engagement because of my indiscretion in Paris. My father could never forgive me
for that.”

“But you seem to be doing just fine on your own,” River
said, smiling at her encouragingly.
“I am. Because I work hærd,” Julianne said. She couldn’t
help feeling proud. She had come a long way from the
homeless, hopeless girl she was the night she arrived at her
cousin, Mason’s doorstep. “And I wasn’t extravagant like my
brother, to begin with. And now, I exercise extreme ways of
frugality. I have dreams for Jared. I want the best for him.”
River stared at her for a while and then carefully, he said,
“Well, you know… if you want the best life money can buy
for your son, all you had to do is… tell his father about him.”
She shook her head. “I’m not going to do that.”

“Why not?”
“Because I’ve heard stories about the real man that Jin
Starck was. He’s ruthless and emotionless. I don’t want my
son to be like that,” Julianne said sadly. “Jin Starck showed
me the face of a wonderful, sweet and rom-ntic man. That
man was Jas Mathieu. He wasn’t real. He didn’t exist. Jin
Starck created him so he could get me to bed. And any guy
who would go to that extent, does not deserve to know my
son.”

“Well, maybe he’s changed. You may not want anything
to do with him now, but your son deserves to know his
father. And he has a birthright that he deserves to claim.”
“There is more to life than money. I want Jared to live a
happy life. Not just a rich life,” Julianne said. “I was born an
heiress. I lived in luxury. But you know what? Those last two
weeks in Paris, with Jas Mathieu, when I thought he was just
a simple guy… those… those were the best days of my life. I
was the happiest then.”

“You don’t know that. Jared will never be complete until
he meets his father. Trust me. I know.”
Julianne was getting more and more confused. As soon as
she found out that Jas and Jin are one and the same person,she had decided not to let Jin know about Jared. But talking
to River now gave her a different perspective. Especially
since River didn’t know his father until he was in college.
She frowned at him. “I hate you.”
River laughed. “Well, it’s never easy to hear the things
you needed to hear, if they weren’t what you wanted to
hear.”
“I know. But maybe I’m overthinking this right now,” she
said. “Maybe I should just let the crumbs fall where they
may. I mean… Jin Starck fake named me, right? It means he
was not interested in having me for the long haul. I was…

maybe a flavor of the month. It was good for him. It was
great for me because even though I lost everything, I gained
something better in return—my son.”
“And so…?”
“So, I don’t think he’ll be coming after me anytime soon.
I don’t think he’ll be interested in Jared’s paternity. Unless I
tell him we have a son together, I doubt he’ll even care to
ask me if Jared was his.”
“And what? You’re just never gonna tell him?”

“I will. When Jared’s old enough to understand,” she
replied. “Hopefully, when Jared is eighteen, so Jin Starck
cannot make him choose between us.”
The more Julianne listened to herself speak, the more
convinced she was that Jin Starck would never care to
bother her and there’s a huge chance he would never ask
about Jared’s paternity.
“I don’t think Starck could take Jared away from you.”
“How sure are you?”
“Because no matter what happened between you two in
Paris, he’s still Adrienne’s brother. And you’re still Justin’s
blood. So is Jared. And if there is anyone who can stand
against Jin Starck, it’s Justin Adams. And I don’t think Justin
will allow him to take Jared away from you.”

“I know you’re right. It’s just that… I don’t want our
families dragged into this. I already caused them so much pain as it is. And when my father banished me, Justin and
Adrienne never left my side.” Julianne sighed. “And the last
thing I want is to put a wedge between them, when
Adrienne stands by her brother’s side and Justin stands up
for me and Jared.”
River reached forward and squeezed her hand. “I know. I
feel you. And you’re right. This will be huge, particularly
since I think your cousins were all dying to put a shiner on
the guy who stole your heart in Paris.”
“Yep. No matter how many times I told them that he
didn’t have to steal it, I gave it to him on a silver platter.”
“You can’t blame them. It’s not just your heart Jin Starck
took away with him. He took away your future… your
family… the love of your parents.”
Julianne smiled at River, but that smile didn’t reach her
eyes. “Thank you, River,” she said. “It felt so much better to
be able to speak to someone about this. But like I said, no
one can know.”
River nodded. “Until Jared is ready to know the truth.”
“I will try my best to avoid Jin Starck. What happened
between us must stay in the past. And I’m sure… he’ll be
happy to oblige. He doesn’t need this type of distraction. We
had a good time in Paris seven years ago. He has no
obligation towards me or my son. Life goes on as it should.
Nothing should change.”

River nodded again. “Good luck. And you know if you
need someone to talk to, or to help you get out of a country
again, I’m here.”
“Thank you,” she smiled, giving River’s hand a squeeze.
River got out of the car at the same time as her. “I’ll walk
you in,side,” he said.
“I’ll be fine.”
But suddenly, she felt a little dizzy. Good thing, River
caught her by the hand to keep her steady.

“It must be the wine,” she giggled.
“Come on, I’ll walk you in.”
River let go of her hand, but walked beside her to ensure
that she does not fall or trip again. She bid him goodbye at
the doorstep.
“Thank you again. It had been a lovely night,” she said.
“The pleasure was all mine,” River nodded. “See you
later.”
Julianne walked up the stairs slowly to make sure that
she does not fall. The house was quiet, which meant that
everybody had gone to sleep. She checked her phone for
the time. She cursed when she realized that it was already
one in the morning.
“River Jefferson could well be a shrink!” she muttered
under her breath.

She opened the door to her room. It was dark and chilly
in,side. She must have left her window partially open again.
She likes to open her window sometimes, to let the
natural breeze in. Plus, her wide window usually has a
perfect view of the starry night and the full moon. She likes
to watch the sky as she falls asleep.
She turned towards the direction of the window when she
realized that a tall figure was standing in front of it, his back
towards her. Her hand went to her mouth as she prevented
a scre-m from escaping her l-ips.
“Holy crap!” she muttered under her breath.
The figure, dressed in a pair of black p-nts and black
leather jacket, finally turned to her.
She could barely make out the contours of his face,
illuminated by the moonlight from the window. He looked so
cold, so handsome, Julianne thought he could well be the
devil himself.

She struggled to find her voice. “Wha-what are you..
what are you doing here?”
He stared at her for a long moment and then finally, he
asked, “Did you really think you could hide from me for the
rest of your life?”
Jin Starck’s voice was low, sober and clad in arctic
fury. The look on his face was dark and fierce, like an
untamed beast who finally found the prey he’d been looking
for all these years.
And suddenly, Julianne wished she could faint again.