Chapter 11
The threat changed the succession fight.
Until then, Eleanor had been the center of it.
Now she was only one believer.
That was more dangerous.
I returned downstairs with the note in my hand.
“Who else knows the reserve can be dissolved?”
Dominic answered first.
“Senior keepers. Blood claimants. Former matriarch.”
Michael looked toward Richard.
“And anyone they told.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“I told no one.”
Eleanor said nothing.
I looked at her.
“How many people?”
She crossed her arms.
I stepped closer.
“How many people did you tell that tonight would decide the house?”
Her expression shifted.
There.
Not many.
Enough.
“Three.”
“Names.”
She resisted for exactly two seconds.
“Samuel Crest.”
The old capo stared at her.
“You told me there might be a family challenge. Nothing more.”
“Who else?”
“Richard.”
We already knew.
“And?”
She hesitated.
That name mattered.
“Eleanor.”
Finally she said it.
“Dominic.”
The room went silent.
I looked at my longtime capo.
He did not move.
Eleanor smiled.
“There. Your loyal keeper knew everything.”
Dominic’s face remained steady.
“I knew the reserve could be challenged.”
“Did you know about tonight?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He looked at me directly.
“Because Andrew ordered me never to mention the founder’s structure unless Eleanor activated it.”
I believed part of that.
Not all.
Michael studied him.
“You sent for me six months ago.”
“Yes.”
“Why then?”
Dominic hesitated.
That was the first hesitation I had seen from him all night.
I felt cold.
“What changed six months ago?”
His eyes lowered.
“Lily began asking kitchen staff whether she needed permission to eat dessert.”
My jaw tightened.
He had noticed Vivian-style warning signs before I did, just as other families had.
But this wasn’t Vivian.
This was Eleanor.
Dominic continued.
“She told one maid Grandma said spoiled heirs lose houses.”
I closed my eyes.
Six months.
He knew Eleanor had started targeting Lily long before tonight.
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
That mattered.
Then Michael asked the sharper question.
“Did you send the nursery threat?”
Dominic looked offended.
“No.”
Samuel spoke from across the room.
“Then someone knew the dissolution discussion started.”
We all understood the implication.
The threat happened minutes after the capos gathered.
Someone in that gallery had sent word upstairs.
I looked at every face.
May you like
The reserve had a second faction.
And unlike Eleanor’s performance in the ballroom, this one had stayed quiet enough not to expose itself.
