Chapter 6
Cesare stared at Julian.
“Say that again.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
The defiance was immediate.
“You heard me.”
Cesare took one slow step closer.
“What would I do?”
Julian looked around the room.
At the capos.
The donors.
The bodyguards.
Then back at his father.
“You would lose control.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
Ethan smiled.
Edmund stood straighter.
For the first time, the pieces aligned openly.
Julian continued.
“You would defend Avice.”
“Yes.”
“Without asking what happened.”
Cesare’s expression hardened.
“If someone falsely accused her—”
“There.”
Julian pointed.
“That.”
His voice grew stronger.
“That certainty.”
“You never ask.”
“You decide.”
“You decide who is loyal.”
“Who is weak.”
“Who deserves a second chance.”
“And every time Marco’s name touches the room, the answer is already written.”
Cesare listened.
Not because Julian was innocent.
Because some of the wound was real.
Julian saw that and pressed harder.
“You want to know why Vanessa agreed?”
Vanessa turned sharply.
“Julian.”
He ignored her.
“Because she knew you would never welcome her.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Julian continued.
“You want to know why Ethan helped?”
Ethan’s smile disappeared.
“Because he knew being tied to me was worth more than being tolerated by you.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Watch yourself.”
Julian looked at him.
“For once, don't interrupt.”
That fracture mattered.
Cesare saw it.
Julian had begun using his allies the way they had used Avice.
As pieces.
Vanessa noticed too.
Her face hardened.
Cesare asked:
“And Edmund?”
The butler answered for himself.
“Because this house has been sentimental for too long.”
His voice was cold.
“I served your father.”
“Then you.”
“Then Marco.”
His eyes moved toward Avice.
“And now every servant bows to a child because her father died.”
Avice looked down.
Cesare’s jaw tightened.
Edmund continued.
“Julian is the living son.”
A pause.
“You made everyone forget.”
That sentence cut.
Cesare did not show it.
Then he asked:
“What happens after Vanessa falls?”
Julian said nothing.
Vanessa answered.
“You hit someone.”
Her mouth curved.
“Probably Ethan.”
Ethan gave a humorless smile.
“Preferably me.”
Cesare looked between them.
There it was.
They wanted witnesses.
A wounded “pregnant” woman.
A crying child blamed.
A Mafia Boss attacking the woman’s brother in front of donors.
And Julian stepping forward to condemn his father’s instability.
A public fracture.
Not a private one.
Cesare looked toward Julian.
“You planned to split the capos.”
Julian’s face did not change.
“Some already split themselves.”
The ballroom quieted.
That was another revelation.
This plan did not depend on tonight alone.
Julian already had support.
Cesare slowly looked toward the older capos.
Three avoided his eyes.
Noted.
But before he could speak, Avice tugged at his sleeve again.
“Grandpa.”
He looked down.
“Uncle Julian said something yesterday.”
Julian’s face changed.
The child continued.
“He told Vanessa not to worry.”
Avice frowned as she remembered.
“He said after she fell…”
Her eyes moved toward the fake belly.
“…she wouldn’t need the baby anymore.”
Vanessa turned sharply toward Julian.
“What?”
For the first time, she sounded genuinely blindsided.
May you like
Julian did not answer.
The alliance cracked wide open.
