Chapter 6
The list angered me less than I expected.
Maybe because I recognized most of the names.
Some men loyal to me.
Some nostalgic for my father.
Some simply waiting to see which side looked stronger.
Normal.
What changed everything was the note beside my name.
ROMAN — weakened by daughter attachment.
I read it twice.
Then another line.
CLARA — relocate immediately after incident.
I looked at Marcus.
“You wrote this.”
He nodded.
No lie.
Good.
“Why St. Cecilia’s?”
He looked at Katherine.
She answered.
“Because it is secure.”
“No.”
My voice stayed low.
“It is isolated.”
“She would be protected.”
“From who?”
Silence.
“Me?”
Katherine’s face hardened.
“From instability.”
There it was.
Me.
My daughter’s father.
Reclassified as unstable once they needed Clara removed.
I almost laughed.
“You planned to take my daughter from me while I was unconscious.”
Katherine rolled her eyes.
“Temporarily.”
That word.
Always.
Cruelty becomes acceptable when someone labels it temporary.
I looked at Marcus.
“You agreed?”
He stared.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because if you recovered angry and confused, Clara would become leverage.”
I leaned forward.
“Whose leverage?”
He did not answer.
Then I understood.
Not mine.
Theirs.
Clara at St. Cecilia’s meant Katherine controlled access.
If I woke and resisted Marcus’s temporary authority, my daughter remained “safe” somewhere I could not reach without creating open family conflict.
I stared at my cousin.
“You were going to use her against me.”
His face cracked slightly.
“No.”
I tapped the note.
“Then why move her before I woke?”
Silence.
Katherine sighed.
“You are being sentimental again.”
I turned.
That word had become her favorite insult.
“Sentimental.”
I smiled faintly.
“You planned to drug me, steal my daughter, and replace me with your son.”
Her face hardened.
“And you still think the embarrassing part is that I love Clara too much.”
For the first time, Marcus looked at his mother differently.
Not loyalty.
Discomfort.
May you like
Good.
The conspiracy had finally become ugly enough for one of its architects to see it.
