Chapter 6
Valentina watched the edited video once.
Then turned it off.
Grant waited for rage.
She gave him nothing.
That irritated him.
“You’re not going to threaten everybody who shared it?”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because that’s what you want.”
For the first time, Grant’s confidence flickered.
Valentina walked to the window.
Adelaide sat behind her.
Evelyn stood beside Grant.
Leo had been taken inside by his nanny.
Good.
Valentina wanted no child listening to adults turn family violence into strategy.
She looked back.
“The cane attack was planned.”
Evelyn’s nostrils flared.
“You’re insane.”
“Maybe.”
Valentina’s voice remained even.
“Then let’s check.”
Garden footage showed Evelyn picking up the decorative cane after Leo offered Adelaide the cupcake.
The motion looked spontaneous.
But another angle revealed Grant already looking toward the nearest camera.
Before Evelyn swung.
Valentina paused the footage.
Grant’s face tightened.
“You knew what she was going to do.”
“No.”
“You were waiting for me to see it.”
“No.”
Adelaide whispered:
“Grant.”
Her son looked toward her.
Something in his mother’s voice changed him more than Valentina’s accusation did.
Adelaide’s eyes were wet.
“You wanted your sister to hit you.”
Grant swallowed.
No answer.
Evelyn stepped closer to him.
Her fingers brushed his sleeve.
A small gesture.
Possessive.
Protective.
Valentina noticed.
Then she looked toward the dessert table.
Leo’s cupcake had been the trigger.
Why?
A pastry assistant was questioned.
She revealed Evelyn had specifically instructed staff to tell Leo only one cupcake remained.
Then Evelyn encouraged him to “choose who deserved it most.”
Adelaide happened to be beside him.
Valentina’s breathing slowed.
“They used my son.”
Adelaide closed her eyes.
Grant finally spoke.
“It was supposed to be a lesson.”
Valentina turned.
His mistake.
“A lesson in what?”
Grant’s mouth tightened.
He realized too late.
Valentina stepped closer.
“Say it.”
Silence.
Then Grant’s voice dropped.
“Who he should trust.”
Valentina stared at him.
Grant had not merely staged Adelaide’s humiliation.
He had used Leo to create the moment.
The cupcake.
The insult.
The cane.
Valentina’s reaction.
All designed to prove a point.
But to whom?
A security officer entered with an update.
Seven senior capos had received the edited video.
Along with a message.
IF THIS IS HOW VALENTINA TREATS HER OWN BROTHER IN PUBLIC, IMAGINE WHAT SHE WILL DO WHEN SHE LEARNS WHO SIGNED NORTHLINE.
Valentina read the final line twice.
May you like
Grant was not the only person worried about exposure.
Someone else inside the senior council had signed onto his network.
