Chapter 4
Garrett stopped pretending once the list appeared.
Not entirely.
Just enough.
“You think every political discussion is betrayal.”
I sat.
“No.”
I tapped his list.
“I think dividing my captains into camps before telling me there is a conflict is preparation.”
“For stability.”
I almost laughed.
That word again.
Every ambitious relative eventually discovers it.
Stability.
A beautiful disguise for control.
“What makes the family unstable?”
He stared at me.
“You.”
There.
Finally.
“Explain.”
“You lead emotionally.”
I looked toward Miriam.
Then back.
“Because I defended my mother?”
“Because you always do.”
I almost smiled.
“My mother is apparently a controversial subject.”
Garrett leaned forward.
“You changed three crew assignments because she disliked the men.”
“Wrong.”
I changed them because those men were stealing from widows.
“You blocked my cousin from becoming port chief.”
“Because he sold access twice.”
“You refused my mother a seat on ceremonial council.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“She called one of my female captains decorative.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes.
I continued.
“She did it in front of thirty people.”
“That is not organizational strategy,” Garrett snapped.
“No.”
My voice dropped.
“It is character.”
Silence.
He hated that distinction.
Because Garrett believed competence should erase cruelty.
I did not.
He looked at my mother.
“She has too much influence.”
Miriam gave a small laugh.
Garrett turned.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
Her voice steadied.
“I think you finally said the truth.”
He stared.
She continued.
“You don’t want the black seal because Alessia is weak.”
A pause.
“You want it because she stopped needing you.”
The room went still.
Garrett’s face hardened.
There it was.
My marriage had changed.
Not recently.
For more than a year.
I stopped letting him speak for me in family rooms.
Stopped sending him to settle disputes I could handle myself.
Stopped calling his mother for traditional approvals.
I thought I was simply growing into my position.
Garrett experienced every step as disappearance.
May you like
Not mine.
His.
