Chapter 12
Grant tried one final move.
He approached three captains privately and told them Adrian regretted ending the engagement.
True.
Then he added that Adrian wanted them to pressure me into allowing Serena back.
False.
One captain called Adrian directly.
Good.
The plan died within an hour.
That was the difference transparency made.
Secrets need corridors.
We had started removing them.
Adrian confronted Grant himself.
I heard about it afterward.
“You keep speaking for me,” Adrian told him.
Grant laughed.
“Because you still don’t know what you want.”
Adrian answered:
“Then I’ll figure it out before I let you choose.”
Good.
Grant lost every Bellini-linked contract and every estate privilege.
No war.
No dramatic punishment.
Just doors closing.
He called it exile.
I called it consequences with good tailoring.
Anthony Cole—his uncle—tried to threaten withdrawal of several wealthy connections.
I let him.
Two actually left.
Three stayed.
Money always sounds more loyal before inconvenience arrives.
Serena did not defend Grant.
That surprised him.
She told him:
“You promised me a room you planned to control.”
He called her ungrateful.
Classic.
She moved farther away.
Started running events for a luxury hotel group.
Funny.
The woman who tried to seize my engagement lawn turned out to be excellent at building rooms people wanted to enter voluntarily.
Maybe that was what she had wanted all along.
A room that was hers.
She simply tried to steal one instead of building it.
May you like
Understanding is not forgiveness.
But sometimes it makes the story less stupid.
