Chapter 12
The family meeting happened the next morning.
Every person in the group chat was summoned.
Nobody knew whether I would shout.
That uncertainty frightened them.
I did not.
I projected the chat onto the large screen in the council room.
No audio.
Just names.
Videos.
Reactions.
I let them look at themselves.
That was enough.
One aunt started crying.
An older cousin said Victor pressured everyone.
Another insisted he only reacted once.
One capo said he never watched the videos completely.
Excuses multiplied quickly.
I waited until they exhausted themselves.
Then I asked one question.
“Which of you called me?”
Silence.
“Which of you called Nina?”
Nothing.
“Which of you told a guard to stop it?”
Daniel stood near the back.
Nobody spoke.
I looked around.
“Then stop telling me how little you participated.”
The room became still.
“Tell me why you participated at all.”
That was harder.
Eventually one man answered.
“Victor.”
I nodded.
Another:
“Fear.”
Another:
“I thought you knew.”
That one hurt.
I looked at Marcus.
He stared at the floor.
Then Lucas’s mother stood.
“I laughed because everyone else did.”
Honest.
Ugly.
Useful.
I nodded.
“Good.”
She looked confused.
“That is the first real answer in this room.”
I turned toward everyone.
“My father made Ellie’s pain a loyalty test.”
Nobody disagreed.
“He also made each of you believe cruelty becomes acceptable when enough people laugh.”
Silence.
“That ends now.”
I removed three relatives from active family gatherings.
Two capos lost influence.
Marcus lost his position temporarily.
Victor lost every remaining informal channel tied to the organization.
No votes.
No debate.
Then I did something my father hated more.
I dissolved the family chat.
Years of hierarchy contained in one screen.
Gone.
Victor stared at me.
“You can’t delete family.”
“No.”
May you like
I looked at him.
“But I can delete the room you used to train them.”
