Chapter 9
Bianca’s motive was partly Gregory.
Partly herself.
She wanted to become the woman beside the next important man.
That sentence sounds shallow.
The truth was sadder.
Bianca grew up in a family where women gained security through proximity.
Father.
Husband.
Son.
Never their own standing.
She watched her mother disappear socially after divorce.
No invitations.
No influence.
No protection.
Bianca learned:
If your man is central, you are safe.
Then she met Gregory.
Ambitious.
Capable.
Close to Carbone.
She decided his rise would secure her.
Sophia threatened that.
Not because Sophia competed romantically.
Because Sophia possessed something Bianca believed she could never earn.
Position without marriage.
Raffaele’s daughter.
Mother of his grandchildren.
Carbone by birth.
Bianca could marry into a room.
Sophia already belonged.
So Bianca tried to redefine belonging itself.
Gregory becomes the future.
Bianca becomes the future wife.
Sophia becomes extended family.
Emma becomes background.
May you like
Fear translated into hierarchy.
Again.
