Chapter 8
Marcus stopped pretending the engagement was romantic.
“Wainwright brings men.”
“Ashford brings territory.”
“Celeste brings continuity.”
I looked at him.
“She brings cruelty.”
He shrugged.
“Cruel people are useful.”
Mae flinched.
Marcus saw it.
“You especially should know that.”
I stepped closer.
“Explain.”
“She survived, didn’t she?”
Same standard.
Alive.
Useful.
Controlled.
Marcus continued:
“The Ashford house has become sentimental.”
“Because?”
“You.”
“Again?”
“You forgave weak staff.”
He glanced at Mae.
“You let musicians eat with security men.”
“That offended you?”
“It blurred lines.”
Celeste nodded.
“People forget their place when you treat them like equals.”
Nora whispered:
“What’s my place?”
Celeste smiled at her.
“Behind your mother.”
Mae moved instantly.
“Don’t.”
Celeste laughed.
“See how easy she is?”
I looked at Mae.
“Did Celeste threaten Nora directly?”
Mae hesitated.
Nora answered.
“She said Mommy disappears if I tell Daddy.”
The room became silent.
Celeste’s expression sharpened.
“Children invent.”
Nora started crying.
Celeste sighed.
“There. Again.”
I crouched beside Nora.
“What did she say exactly?”
Nora sniffed.
“She said Mommy went away once.”
My chest tightened.
“And can go away again.”
Mae covered her mouth.
Celeste looked bored.
“You want context?”
“No.”
“I told the child her mother could lose employment.”
“You told her I could disappear,” Mae whispered.
“Same practical result.”
I stood.
“No.”
Celeste smiled.
“Everything is dramatic when servants tell it.”
I looked at Marcus.
“What happens after the wedding?”
He said nothing.
Harris did.
The steward.
“I heard them once.”
Marcus turned.
Harris continued anyway.
“Miss Wainwright said Mae and Nora would be transferred.”
“Where?”
“North estate.”
I knew it.
Remote.
Staffed by Marcus’s men.
I looked at Celeste.
“You planned to move my daughter after marrying me.”
“Your daughter wasn’t confirmed.”
Marcus interrupted:
“She is now.”
Celeste glared.
Another slip.
I looked at him.
“You already knew.”
He froze.
“How?”
Silence.
I stepped closer.
“You knew before today that Nora was mine.”
Marcus’s eyes shifted.
Celeste whispered:
“Don’t.”
Too late.
Marcus had not spent years fearing a possibility.
May you like
He had confirmed paternity somehow.
And he had done it without me.
