Chapter 8
I asked Nolan about his mother.
First time he became truly defensive.
“Leave her out of this.”
“Why?”
“She’s dead.”
“So are plenty of people you still use as arguments.”
He glared.
Good.
“What did she do?”
“She took care of us.”
Only.
“What else?”
He hesitated.
“Properties.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Seven.
She managed seven.
Negotiated suppliers.
Resolved staff disputes.
Handled tenant families.
Coordinated security during Victor’s travel.
Nolan did not know because nobody told him it counted.
That was the revelation.
Not hidden documents.
Not a secret empire.
Uncredited labor.
I watched his face as I listed it.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Dad handled business.”
“She did too.”
Different scale.
Still business.
Then I told him something Rowan remembered.
During the recession twenty-three years ago, Celia personally prevented the sale of two Bellandi properties by renegotiating debt with three lenders.
Victor later received public praise for “keeping the family estate intact.”
Nolan looked sick.
“Dad never said.”
Exactly.
Sometimes erasure does not require falsifying events.
Just who receives the sentence afterward.
He left without apologizing.
Good.
Too early.
May you like
But he took a file about his mother with him.
Better.
