Chapter 14
I removed Diane’s old access.
Every private channel.
Every loyal guard.
Every gate code still tied to her authority.
She laughed while I did it.
“You think you can erase me?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Stop you.”
She looked almost disappointed.
My mother always preferred dramatic enemies.
Sabrina remained under guard.
She asked to speak to Grace.
I said no.
She accepted it.
That mattered.
Connor and Bella sat with Michael.
Six years stood between them.
Connor wouldn’t hug him at first.
Michael didn’t push.
Diane would have called that weakness.
I called it patience.
Later Sabrina looked at me.
“Will Connor ever forgive me?”
“I don’t know.”
Her face crumpled.
“What do I do?”
“Stop asking what you need.”
She stared.
“Start asking what he needs.”
That answer hurt her because it required something Diane had never taught either of us.
Humility.
Across the hall, Mother watched.
“You’re turning her soft.”
I walked over.
“She starved her son.”
“He survived.”
“She humiliated Grace.”
“Grace survived.”
I stared.
“That’s your measure?”
“Survival matters.”
“So does what survives inside them.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Poetry.”
“No.”
I looked at Connor.
“Consequences.”
Diane smiled.
“Children forget.”
Grace walked into the hall at that exact moment with one of my guards.
Short hair now even on both sides.
She saw Diane.
Stopped.
My mother smiled.
“Come here.”
Grace moved behind the guard.
Diane’s expression hardened.
“Don’t be rude.”
I stepped between them.
“She doesn’t owe you closeness.”
“She’s my granddaughter.”
“That isn’t ownership.”
Diane looked at me.
“Everything has rules, Natalie.”
“Yes.”
“What rule is this?”
I glanced at Grace.
“No one touches her without permission.”
Mother laughed.
“You’ll make her weak.”
Grace whispered:
“Mommy?”
I turned immediately.
“Can I go?”
“Yes.”
She left.
Diane stared after her.
“You didn’t make her say goodbye.”
“No.”
“She needs manners.”
“She needed safety.”
My mother shook her head.
“You choose that child over blood.”
I looked at her.
“She is my blood.”
May you like
That answer exposed something Diane had never accepted.
Family extended beyond the people she controlled.
