Chapter 3
Marina spoke more the next morning.
Slowly.
Not because she was hiding anything.
Because she had spent nine days learning that every complaint created another argument.
At first Helena had called postpartum recovery “modern nonsense.”
Marina laughed it off.
Then came the rules.
Breakfast downstairs by seven.
Baby laundry done separately.
Marina’s own meals after Helena’s.
Family linens folded according to household tradition.
Formal rooms inspected before dinner.
Marina reminded Helena that her doctor had told her not to lift anything heavier than the baby.
Helena replied:
“Doctors treat ordinary women. You married into this family.”
Damiano’s jaw tightened.
“Did she make you carry heavy things before today?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
Marina looked at him.
“Do you really want the answer?”
“Yes.”
“Every day.”
Damiano stood and walked toward the window.
He needed distance from the bed before anger turned into something Marina had to manage.
She watched him.
Then said something worse.
“I thought you knew.”
He turned.
“Why?”
“She always said you knew.”
“What exactly?”
“That you agreed I needed structure.”
Damiano stared at her.
Marina continued.
“That I was becoming lazy.”
His expression hardened.
“That I complained too much.”
He said nothing.
“That I was using the baby to avoid responsibilities.”
“Marina.”
“She said those were your words.”
“They weren’t.”
Marina looked away.
“I know that now.”
The word now hurt.
A nurse came in before Damiano could respond.
He was grateful.
That afternoon, he asked his attorney, Caroline West, to begin preserving every estate instruction involving Marina since Nico’s birth.
Caroline gave him an immediate warning.
“Do not privately alter anything first.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You were thinking about sending your security team through the servers.”
Damiano looked at her.
She knew him too well.
“I want the original records.”
“So will anyone investigating.”
Damiano understood.
The estate ran on a complicated hierarchy.
Staff rarely received orders directly from him.
Authorizations moved through administrators, assistants, senior family members, and security personnel.
That system worked because everyone trusted the chain.
Helena had spent decades near the top of it.
May you like
If she had used Damiano’s name, she would barely have needed to forge anything.
She only needed people accustomed to assuming she spoke for him.
