Chapter 13
Adrian did not deny it.
His face changed before his mouth did.
Roman saw shame.
Real.
“You withheld food from my daughter.”
Adrian breathed through his nose.
“One meal.”
Maria snapped:
“Three.”
Adrian looked at her.
She did not back down.
Roman remained silent.
Adrian’s confidence began to collapse under it.
“It was supposed to make Helena’s story believable.”
“What story?”
“That Sophie had become difficult.”
Roman stared.
The residential placement required documentation showing behavioral instability and household failure.
A child refusing meals helped.
So Adrian ordered staff not to offer alternatives.
Sophie became hungrier.
More frightened.
More desperate.
Which made the paperwork stronger.
Roman’s voice fell to almost nothing.
“You turned her reaction to abuse into evidence that she needed removal.”
Adrian looked away.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
That mattered.
Roman stood.
Adrian braced.
Nothing happened.
Roman simply removed the signet pin from Adrian’s lapel.
A symbol of capo authority.
He placed it on the table.
“You're finished.”
Adrian swallowed.
“I know.”
The punishment was immediate.
No title.
No council vote.
No command.
Every man in the room saw it.
Adrian’s power disappeared in silence.
Helena watched.
For the first time, she understood the same could happen to her.
Roman turned toward the council.
“My mother no longer speaks for me.”
Helena’s face went white.
“Roman.”
He looked at her.
Her breath caught.
No one had ever seen Helena ask him for anything.
Now she looked afraid to speak.
Roman continued.
“Her residence, finances and family authority will be separated through counsel.”
Helena whispered:
“You're throwing your mother away.”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“No.”
He looked toward the staircase.
“You threw my daughter away.”
Helena’s lips trembled.
Then Roman’s security chief entered.
Rachel had finally agreed to speak directly.
Her condition:
Roman had to come alone.
May you like
She had proof that one person inside the house had known Roman was alive from the beginning.
And it was not Helena.
