Chapter 11
Victor removed every photograph of the engagement from the penthouse.
Not because Ethan asked.
Because Victor could no longer stand looking at them.
Lily noticed.
“You don't have to erase her.”
“I’m not doing it for Ethan.”
“I know.”
She meant he was doing it for himself.
Victor accepted that.
His relationship with Lily remained damaged.
She trusted him with Ethan’s immediate safety.
She did not trust him with her own position in the household.
When Victor offered to increase her salary and formalize her authority, Lily refused.
“You still think the solution is giving somebody more power.”
Victor looked at her.
“What do you want?”
“Clear rules.”
The answer surprised him.
Not loyalty.
Not gratitude.
Structure.
A written caregiving plan.
Medical authority clearly defined.
No relative overriding staff because of status.
No camera settings changed without security documentation.
No private “discipline” sessions.
Victor agreed.
His attorney drafted the policies.
It felt absurd that a Mafia household needed written boundaries to accomplish what ordinary decency should have handled.
Then the investigation reached another obstacle.
The recovered audio showed coercion.
It did not show the precise moment Ethan’s arm fractured.
Serena claimed Ethan fell while throwing a tantrum.
Adrian claimed he never touched the child.
Both blamed Lily for arriving aggressively and escalating the scene.
The truth was becoming clear.
Legal accountability would still require careful evidence.
Victor hated the distinction.
He was learning to live with it.
Then Serena requested one meeting.
Through attorneys.
She said she would explain everything if Victor agreed not to “destroy Adrian’s livelihood.”
Victor read the request twice.
May you like
Even now she was bargaining around her brother.
Which meant whatever Serena was ready to admit, Adrian had something more to lose.
