Chapter 6
Savannah had been told I would leave voluntarily.
That was the lie Daniel gave her.
“You said Claire hated this family.”
She looked at him.
“You said she wanted out.”
Daniel said nothing.
Savannah continued.
“You said Lily wasn’t yours.”
I held up the DNA report.
Her face drained.
“What?”
Margaret snapped:
“Enough.”
Savannah looked at her.
“You knew?”
No answer.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
Margaret’s jaw tightened.
Savannah laughed weakly.
“Oh my God.”
There it was.
Another person discovering she had been useful.
I looked at Daniel.
“You lied to her too.”
He finally exploded.
“You made everything impossible!”
I stared.
“What did I make impossible?”
“You controlled everything.”
Interesting.
The real wound.
Not marriage.
Not Lily.
Power.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Every capo listened to you.”
“Because they trusted me.”
“They tolerated me because of you.”
“You were my underboss.”
“I was your husband.”
“And?”
His face twisted.
“You never understood how humiliating that was.”
There.
He resented the truth no one publicly knew.
I secretly controlled the Whitmore organization.
He wore the visible title often enough to save appearances.
But men came to me for final decisions.
Margaret hated it too.
Of course.
She had spent her life believing power belonged to men she could influence.
Not daughters she couldn’t.
Daniel pointed toward Lily.
“Then she came.”
“My daughter?”
“Everything became about her.”
“She was a baby.”
“You canceled meetings.”
“When she was sick.”
“You overruled Mother.”
“Because she wanted Lily removed from the house.”
Margaret snapped:
“She screamed all night.”
“She had pneumonia.”
“And the whole estate stopped because of it!”
There it was.
They hated Lily because I proved they were not my center.
Savannah backed away.
“I want no part of this.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Sit down.”
Savannah froze.
Margaret smiled.
“You wanted Daniel.”
“I didn’t want this.”
“Then perhaps you should have thought before opening your legs.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
Savannah’s face reddened.
Cruelty didn’t care who obeyed.
Only who was beneath Margaret at the moment.
Then Mark entered holding a small brass key.
“I found this in Mom’s purse.”
Margaret went still.
I looked at him.
“What does it open?”
Mark stared at her.
“The boathouse.”
May you like
Daniel’s face changed.
And suddenly replacing me was not the only thing they had prepared.
