Chapter 15
I returned to the bridal suite alone.
The vanity was repaired.
The sofa replaced.
No wedding flowers.
No Preston.
The golf club remained in my private storage because Enzo assumed I wanted it as evidence.
I did not.
I brought it into the room.
Set it on the floor.
Stared at it.
Metal.
Ordinary.
Nothing evil about the object.
Meaning came from the hand holding it.
That was uncomfortable because it meant destroying the club would solve nothing.
I called Preston.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
Not dressed like a Hale heir.
No signet.
No expensive watch.
Simple dark shirt.
He looked at the club.
His face tightened.
“Why am I here?”
I pointed.
“Take it.”
He hesitated.
Then picked it up.
“Now what?”
“Break it.”
He looked confused.
“I thought you said objects weren’t the problem.”
“They aren’t.”
I walked toward the window.
“But sometimes people need to choose what they do with symbols they created.”
He stared at the club.
Then carried it to the estate workshop.
He cut the shaft into three pieces.
Not dramatic.
Just metal against a saw.
When he finished, he looked at me.
“That doesn’t fix anything.”
“No.”
Good.
He finally understood.
Repair was not ritual.
It was behavior repeated after ritual stopped feeling satisfying.
I gave one piece to Celeste.
She laughed.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Whatever you want.”
She used it to prop open a greenhouse window.
Perfect.
An object once raised as a threat now holding fresh air inside.
May you like
I did not tell anyone the symbolism.
Some things become stronger when nobody performs them.
