Chapter 5
Victor denied it badly.
“Don’t be dramatic.”
Harlan almost laughed.
“You told her to watch what Valentina chose.”
I looked at Celeste.
She went white.
“What choice?”
Harlan answered.
“The boy or the room.”
My breathing slowed.
This donor reception mattered to Victor.
Four major capos.
Three financial backers.
Two older family allies.
Men who had known me before Owen existed.
Victor believed some worried motherhood had changed my priorities.
Not because profits fell.
They had not.
Not because security weakened.
It had not.
Because I left dinners early sometimes.
Because Owen sat on my lap during Sunday meetings.
Because I refused to move him into a separate estate nursery after his father died.
Small things.
Human things.
Victor interpreted them as signals.
So tonight, he wanted a demonstration.
Not planned drowning.
He claimed Celeste was supposed to frighten Owen near the pond.
I would be restrained for several seconds.
Bodyguards would rescue him.
Then Victor would observe whether I lost control publicly.
That was his version.
I looked at Celeste.
“Did you mean to push him in?”
Silence.
Victor turned toward her.
There.
He did not know.
Good.
Celeste whispered:
“Yes.”
Victor’s face changed.
Finally.
“Why?”
She looked at him.
“You said she needed to choose.”
“I said scare the boy.”
“No.”
Celeste’s voice rose.
“You said nobody believes weakness until they see it.”
Victor stopped.
She continued.
“If he only cried beside the water, Valentina would comfort him and everyone would forget.”
“So you pushed him.”
Tears appeared.
“Yes.”
Not accident.
Not misunderstanding.
Choice.
“And you knew he couldn’t swim.”
“Yes.”
Owen had told her earlier that week when she brought him to feed the koi.
She remembered.
Still pushed.
I felt something cold settle inside me.
Harlan said:
“She wasn’t proving whether you were weak.”
“What was she proving?”
His eyes moved to Celeste.
“That Victor should choose her.”
I frowned.
Choose her for what?
Not leadership.
Not succession.
Something more personal.
Victor had been preparing to hand control of the family’s charitable foundation and donor network to someone younger.
Celeste wanted the role.
I had rejected her six months ago.
Not because incapable.
Because she treated staff poorly.
Victor disagreed.
May you like
Tonight was her chance to show him she possessed the ruthlessness I supposedly lacked.
My son had become an audition.
