Chapter 8
Cassandra listened to that recording once.
Then asked for silence.
We gave it.
Tobias sat across the room.
He did not defend himself.
For once, smart.
My sister finally looked at him.
“Did you love me?”
The question landed harder than any accusation.
Tobias answered immediately.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“I believe you.”
He started crying.
Then she continued.
“That makes this worse.”
Silence.
“You were willing to turn every answer I gave into your answer.”
“I thought once you understood—”
“No.”
She raised one hand.
“You thought understanding meant agreeing.”
There.
The disease.
Tobias had lived eleven years inside his father’s humiliation story.
He interpreted disagreement as betrayal because the grievance became identity.
If Cassandra chose Westbrook, she was choosing her brother over her husband.
If she chose Carrow, she proved loyalty.
No third option.
No her.
“I need you out of the house.”
Tobias stared.
“Cass.”
“Tonight.”
“You’re ending our marriage?”
“I’m ending your access to me tonight.”
Different.
Important.
“The marriage question comes later.”
He looked toward me.
I said nothing.
Not my decision.
That seemed to frighten him more.
For years he believed I controlled Cassandra.
Now he was discovering she had been choosing him the whole time.
Which meant she could stop.
Then Daniel laughed softly.
Bad timing.
Cassandra turned toward him.
“And you.”
He stopped.
“You disappeared six years ago because you said family life disgusted you.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You let Tobias mourn you.”
“I needed distance.”
“You needed secrecy.”
She looked at the storage card.
“You came back only when his resentment became useful.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
She was right.
Tobias had emotional grievance.
Daniel had ambition.
He wanted Carrow restored because he wanted something to lead.
No wife.
No children.
No established role inside Westbrook.
A revived branch would give him identity and command instantly.
Cassandra saw it.
So did Tobias.
The brothers looked at each other differently.
There.
Another fracture.
Then Malcolm said:
“Daniel promised himself the first chair.”
Tobias turned.
“What?”
May you like
Daniel closed his eyes.
Finally, the man who had spent years teaching his brother that Westbrook stole Carrow power had apparently planned to take Carrow from Tobias the moment it returned.
