Chapter 3
Fatima had been cleaning Genevieve’s private sitting room three weeks earlier when she heard the first conversation.
She did not stay intentionally.
She was inside the wardrobe alcove collecting clothing bags when Genevieve and Edmund entered.
The door closed.
Then Edmund said:
“Once you’re legally inside Rienzi, access becomes family.”
Fatima remembered the sentence because it sounded strange.
I did too.
Genevieve tried to interrupt.
I stopped her.
“Let her finish.”
Fatima continued.
Edmund told his daughter the wedding would solve three problems.
My private properties would begin accepting Ashworth family staff.
Genevieve would gain household authority.
And old Rienzi captains who disliked my reforms would finally have someone inside my home who could reach them without asking me.
That was not how my organization formally worked.
It did not need to be.
Families survive on habits more than written structures.
A wife could invite people.
Ask questions.
Move through rooms guards would stop anyone else from entering.
I had spent years making my external security difficult to penetrate.
Then I had almost married the entrance.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked Fatima.
She looked ashamed.
“Mrs. Ashworth saw me afterward.”
Genevieve corrected her coldly.
“Miss.”
Fatima flinched.
I noticed.
“What did she say?”
Fatima looked toward Amara.
“She said housemaids hear things because people forget they’re there.”
Genevieve remained silent.
“And?”
“She said people who want to keep jobs should stay forgettable.”
I felt something cold settle inside me.
Not a direct threat.
Better crafted.
Then Fatima said Genevieve asked about Amara.
Where she slept while Fatima worked evening events.
What preschool she attended.
Who picked her up.
Genevieve had not needed to say anything else.
I looked at my former fiancée.
“You used a child to silence her mother.”
Genevieve scoffed.
“I asked questions.”
“Yes.”
I stepped closer.
“Questions can be threats when the person asking controls enough doors.”
Her expression hardened.
“You’re turning servants into witnesses against your own future wife.”
“No.”
I looked toward Fatima.
“I’m finally noticing the people you expected to remain invisible.”
Amara lifted her lamb.
“Mommy told me not listen.”
Fatima covered her eyes.
I almost smiled despite everything.
“What happened today?”
The child whispered:
“I went looking for Mommy.”
May you like
Instead, she found Genevieve and Edmund.
And apparently they had been discussing the final part of the plan.
