Chapter 14
Ryan stopped defending Vivian after that.
He didn’t become good.
He became disillusioned.
Different thing.
“You killed Dad.”
Vivian crossed her arms.
“He chose betrayal.”
“He chose me.”
“He chose escape.”
“With me.”
“And would have turned you against me.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“Maybe he should have.”
Vivian slapped him.
Hard.
The room froze.
Ryan touched his cheek.
She hissed:
“Don’t speak like him.”
There.
Not husband.
Not son.
Possession.
Ryan looked at me.
Then my bruised mother.
Then Oliver.
Emma.
All the people he had hurt to remain aligned with Vivian.
His face collapsed.
“I became her.”
I said nothing.
He looked at Margaret.
“I…”
My mother stepped back.
He stopped.
Good.
Apologies require permission too.
Vivian rolled her eyes.
“Oh, please.”
She pointed at Ryan.
“Now you’re going to cry with them?”
He looked at her.
“No.”
“What?”
“I’m going to stop listening.”
That sentence hurt her more than any punch could.
Vivian’s face twisted.
“You owe me.”
“No.”
“I raised you.”
“You owned me.”
Silence.
Victor looked at me.
The old cycle finally visible to everyone.
Vivian controlled Ryan.
Ryan controlled Margaret.
Margaret protected the children.
The children waited for me.
And all of it happened because every generation believed fear was a legitimate inheritance.
I looked at Ryan.
“You are not forgiven.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“You hit me.”
“Yes.”
“You starved my children.”
His face broke.
“Yes.”
“You helped torture my mother.”
“Yes.”
“No excuse?”
He looked at Vivian.
Then me.
“No.”
That mattered.
Not enough.
But mattered.
Vivian laughed.
“Pathetic.”
Ryan didn’t flinch this time.
She noticed.
Then one of the guards handed me a phone.
“Boss. Old capos are arriving.”
I looked at Victor.
“The dinner?”
He nodded.
Ryan went pale.
Vivian smiled.
“Good.”
She still believed the invitation worked.
Still believed old men would come ready to replace me.
I looked at her.
“Let them in.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
I looked around the kitchen.
At the bruises.
The broken cart.
May you like
The scraps on the floor.
“Let them see what their new matriarch built in twelve days.”
