Chapter 6
Rachel let the capos wait outside.
Daniel hated that.
“They’re senior men.”
“They can wait.”
“You can’t humiliate them.”
Rachel looked at him.
“You invited them into my house to discuss replacing me.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Our house.”
Jason smiled.
“There it is.”
Rachel turned.
“What?”
“You always have to remind everyone you’re in charge.”
“No.”
She looked around.
“I rarely do.”
That was the difference.
Daniel needed the room to say he mattered.
Rachel only needed the room to function.
Alyssa sat quietly near the stairs.
Rachel noticed her staring at Jason’s confiscated expense card.
“Want yours too?”
Alyssa shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
She swallowed.
“Because I know who pays it.”
Jason laughed.
“Coward.”
Alyssa looked at him.
“At least I know what money is.”
Jason stood.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You think Dad bought your car.”
“He did.”
Alyssa shook her head.
“No.”
Jason looked toward Daniel.
His father said nothing.
Rachel watched realization arrive slowly.
Phone.
Car.
Console.
Trips.
Clothes.
Apartment deposit Jason had been promised after graduation.
Rachel had funded everything.
Quietly.
Daniel accepted the gratitude.
Jason gave him the loyalty.
Perfect arrangement.
Jason stared at Rachel.
“So what?”
“So nothing.”
He frowned.
She continued.
“You never owed me affection.”
Silence.
“But you did owe Ethan basic decency.”
Jason rolled his eyes.
“He’s spoiled.”
“He has a wooden plane.”
“He has you.”
That sentence mattered.
Jealousy.
Not inheritance.
Not blood.
Access.
Jason resented that Ethan had a mother who protected him.
Rachel stared.
“What did Daniel tell you about Ethan?”
Jason’s smile returned.
“That he’d replace us.”
Alyssa turned sharply.
“What?”
Jason looked at her.
“You didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Dad said once Rachel fully takes over, Ethan becomes the only kid who matters.”
Daniel said:
“Jason.”
Too late.
Rachel looked at her husband.
“You’ve been telling your children a three-year-old is threatening them.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“They needed to understand the future.”
“What future?”
Silence.
Alyssa whispered:
“Dad said Jason would eventually lead Carter.”
Rachel stared.
Jason lifted his chin.
There it was.
May you like
Daniel had not merely promised comfort.
He had promised a throne that was never his to give.
