Chapter 3
Elias Ward did not know Sofia had refused.
That mattered.
He had worked for Victor for eighteen years.
Driver.
Household security.
Occasional courier.
He stood downstairs beside the empty infant carrier and looked genuinely sick when I told him what happened.
“Mr. Mercer said Mrs. Mercer approved.”
I looked at him.
“Which Mrs. Mercer?”
He hesitated.
Exactly.
Victor had used ambiguity.
Sofia Mercer.
Bianca Mercer.
One surname.
One household.
Let the employee assume.
“What were your instructions?”
“Take the boy to Connecticut.”
“Then?”
“Mrs. Bianca would follow later.”
“And Sofia?”
He stared.
“I was told she would stay overnight.”
Of course.
By the time my daughter returned home, one bassinet would already be somewhere else.
“What explanation were you given?”
Elias looked ashamed.
“That the family had made an arrangement.”
There was the phrase.
Family arrangement.
No individual consent needed.
I looked at the infant carrier.
New.
Expensive.
Blanket already folded inside.
This had been planned carefully.
“How long has that been in your vehicle?”
“Three weeks.”
Three weeks.
I went back upstairs.
Victor was waiting.
I placed the blue ribbon on the table in front of him.
Then the packed baby bag.
His expression barely moved.
“You prepared this before the delivery.”
“Yes.”
Finally.
Honesty.
“Why the boy?”
Victor looked toward Bianca.
“Because the Mercer line matters.”
There it was.
Not Bianca’s grief alone.
Succession.
Bloodline.
A male child.
I almost laughed.
“You already have Julian.”
Victor’s face changed.
Small.
Enough.
“What?”
Nothing.
Interesting.
Bianca interrupted.
“This isn’t about Julian.”
Now I knew it was.
I turned toward her.
“What is wrong with Julian’s place in the line?”
Victor stood.
“Enough.”
No.
Not enough.
I looked at him.
“Why does Bianca need Sofia’s son if Julian already gave your branch three grandchildren?”
He said nothing.
Actually, Sofia had given them.
Their language mattered.
I corrected myself silently.
Then Bianca whispered:
“Because Dad says Julian was never supposed to inherit everything.”
Julian heard from the lounge.
He appeared in the doorway.
“What?”
Victor closed his eyes.
Good.
The first crack was not in my daughter’s marriage anymore.
It was inside the Mercer family story.
Julian looked at his father.
“What does that mean?”
Victor refused to answer.
Bianca did.
May you like
“It means you were never really his son.”
The room went silent.
