Chapter 14
The meeting took place at the Moretti estate.
Not in the ballroom.
Galen refused to use that room.
Ainsley sat across from him in the library where she had once helped Eira practice writing her name.
Nolan sat beside his attorney.
Rebecca placed the proposal on the table.
Nolan would leave all Moretti-affiliated management roles.
Vale Heritage would be paid only for verified authorized work.
He would be responsible for commitments he had made without approval.
Ainsley would remove her remaining belongings from the estate.
She would have no direct contact with Eira unless Galen and Eira’s therapist later agreed it was appropriate.
Both siblings would stop representing that Dr. Levin had recommended removing Sofia’s belongings.
Ainsley read the final page.
“No public apology?”
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“You don’t want everyone to know what I did?”
Galen leaned back.
“The people who need to know already know.”
“You could humiliate me.”
“I could.”
He looked toward the hallway leading to Eira’s room.
“That doesn’t help my daughter.”
Nolan signed first.
He had already lost the renovation contract and most of the authority Galen once allowed him inside the family organization.
Ainsley did not touch the pen.
“Do you still love me?”
Rebecca looked down.
Even Nolan seemed uncomfortable.
Galen answered anyway.
“I loved the person I thought was helping us survive Sofia’s death.”
Ainsley swallowed.
“And now?”
“Now I don’t trust you near my child.”
That was the answer that mattered.
Ainsley signed.
Then she reached into her purse.
She placed Eira’s repaired flower-girl sash on the table.
The lace from Sofia’s veil was still attached.
“I never cut this part.”
Galen looked at it.
For one second, Ainsley seemed to expect that small fact to mean something larger.
It did not.
Galen picked up the sash.
“You had a last chance the moment she said Mommy’s things mattered to her.”
Ainsley lowered her eyes.
Rebecca collected the signed documents.
The wedding was canceled.
The renovation was dead.
The household boundaries were formalized.
Once Rebecca sent the agreements to the lawyers waiting on the other side, there would be no private family arrangement left to renegotiate.
May you like
Galen nodded.
“Send them.”
