Chapter 13
Genevieve’s laughter lasted only a second.
But it broke something.
Vivienne stood.
“Enough.”
Genevieve kept smiling bitterly.
“That word used to work.”
Her mother’s face changed.
There.
A daughter stepping outside the script.
Genevieve looked at me.
“My father controlled where I went. My mother controlled what I knew. I thought marrying you would finally make me powerful enough that neither could decide for me.”
She swallowed.
“Instead I brought them into your house.”
No excuse.
Good.
Vivienne called her ungrateful.
Genevieve nodded.
“Probably.”
Then she removed one diamond earring.
Then the other.
Placed them beside the engagement ring.
“My mother chose these.”
Vivienne looked humiliated.
That interested me.
Not because jewelry mattered.
Because choice did.
Genevieve continued.
“You want to know why I grabbed Amara?”
“Yes.”
“I was afraid she heard my mother say I was expendable.”
I frowned.
New detail.
During the music salon conversation, Genevieve overheard Vivienne and Marcus discussing what happened after the council took hold.
Genevieve would remain my wife initially.
Then, once stability returned, a scandal would be arranged to force her out.
Why?
Because she had become emotionally attached to me.
Vivienne considered that a risk.
Genevieve discovered during her own engagement party that her parents planned to sacrifice her after using the marriage.
Then Amara appeared at the door.
“She looked right at me,” Genevieve whispered.
“And I knew she heard.”
“So you hurt her.”
“Yes.”
Her voice broke.
“I did to her exactly what my parents always did to me. I punished the person who made me feel powerless.”
Fatima listened from across the room.
No sympathy in her face.
Fair.
Genevieve looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
Fatima answered:
“You scared my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“You asked where she went to school.”
Genevieve closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“You knew what that sounded like.”
“Yes.”
No forgiveness came.
Good.
Vivienne scoffed.
“This confession accomplishes nothing.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
Then at Genevieve.
“But it’s the first thing she’s done today that isn’t part of your plan.”
That mattered.
May you like
Not enough to restore a wedding.
Enough to begin separating daughter from weapon.
