Chapter 6
David admitted the red-room plan.
Eventually.
I sat across from him.
No guards inside.
Just us.
He said:
“I never wanted your chair.”
“I know.”
That surprised him.
“You wanted proximity to it.”
Silence.
Better.
He believed the future of the two families required someone younger who could move between them.
He saw himself as that man.
Marriage to Sarah gave legitimacy.
Emma gave permanence.
Then Sarah started resisting.
Not the marriage.
The role.
She refused to attend certain dinners.
Refused to let Emma sit through adult conversations.
Refused to smile for photographs when people called David “the next bridge.”
He interpreted resistance as sabotage.
Then anger became physical.
“I never planned to hurt her.”
I looked at him.
“You kept doing it.”
May you like
That ended the sentence.
Intent loses importance after repetition.
