Chapter 6
The third floor room became important for another reason.
It had not been chosen randomly.
It sat beside the rooms used by rotating childcare staff.
Far from Domenico’s bedroom.
Far from his office.
Far from the family sitting room.
Helena described it as “practical.”
Rachel, Emma’s nanny, described it differently.
“Ms. Vale told me I’d be responsible for keeping Emma upstairs in the mornings.”
Domenico stared at her.
“Every morning?”
“Until breakfast was finished.”
“Whose breakfast?”
“Yours and Ms. Vale’s.”
The plan was becoming clear.
After the wedding, Bianca wanted a household in which Emma’s access to Domenico was scheduled.
Wake upstairs.
Breakfast upstairs.
Come down after adult breakfast.
Return upstairs during formal dinners and receptions.
No entering Domenico’s office uninvited.
No interrupting Bianca’s private time with him.
Again, none of those rules individually proved abuse.
Plenty of families had routines.
The problem was the deception.
Domenico had never agreed to any of them.
Yet Bianca had spent months presenting them as his wishes.
Helena had helped.
A housekeeper provided another small clue.
Two months earlier, she overheard Helena tell Bianca:
“Once you’re married, he’ll adjust. Domenico resists changes more when you ask permission first.”
Helena denied remembering the sentence.
The housekeeper was certain.
Domenico did not confront her again.
Not yet.
Instead, he asked Ethan what legal authority Bianca would have over Emma after marriage.
“Very little automatically.”
“Could she move Emma out of the house?”
“Not without you.”
“Enroll her somewhere?”
“Not unless you delegated authority.”
“Make medical decisions?”
“Emergency situations aside, not unless you authorized it.”
“So most of this plan depended on me eventually agreeing.”
“Yes.”
Domenico looked toward the windows.
“Or on everyone believing I already had.”
Ethan nodded.
That was exactly what Bianca had been doing.
Creating facts inside the household before Domenico could reject them.
Once Emma’s room was gone, restoring it became a fight.
Once staff adopted new rules, changing them made Domenico appear inconsistent.
Once school personnel heard that Emma was struggling with transition, later distress would confirm the story already planted.
Bianca was not waiting for the wedding to gain authority.
May you like
She was building authority in advance.
And Helena had apparently decided that was acceptable.
