Chapter 9
Camille’s plan for Ashford was worse than “temporary distance.”
She wanted Emma there for four months.
Music instruction.
Private tutoring.
Therapy for grief.
All respectable explanations.
None requested by me.
The real goal was habit.
Get Emma out of the main estate before the wedding.
Normalize a quieter household.
Let Camille occupy the role of wife without a dead woman’s daughter constantly reminding everyone there had been a wife before her.
Then bring Emma back gradually.
Weekends.
Holidays.
Controlled visits.
I stared at Camille.
“You wanted my daughter to become a guest in her own home.”
She looked away.
“She would still live here.”
“Eventually.”
Silence.
“And Miles?”
“He would handle transport.”
Of course.
Camille wanted to become the center inside.
Miles the bridge between houses.
Emma moved according to their schedule.
Everything tidy.
“What frightened you most about her staying?”
Camille cried now.
Not performatively.
Real.
“She loved her mother.”
I waited.
“I know how ugly that sounds.”
“Then keep going.”
“She talked about Elena.”
Wrong name? Adrian's deceased wife not named yet. Let's establish: Lucia Bellucci. Need correct in final draft. Use "Lucia". Continue cleanly.
“She talked about Lucia.”
My late wife.
“Every day?”
“Enough.”
“She is three.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You keep saying that after treating her like an adult rival.”
Camille covered her face.
“I wanted one room in your life that wasn’t already haunted.”
There.
Human.
Still cruel.
“You chose the child.”
She looked at me.
“I chose wrong.”
“Yes.”
Not misunderstood.
Not went too far.
Chose wrong.
“Did you love me?”
“Yes.”
I believed her.
That complicated the pain.
It did not change the decision.
I removed my engagement ring from the small chain I wore beneath my shirt—the matching band we planned to exchange later.
Placed it on the piano.
“We are done.”
Camille stared.
“Adrian.”
“No.”
“What if I change?”
“Then change.”
Her face collapsed.
“But not toward a wedding date.”
No reward guaranteed.
No relationship preserved to motivate repair.
May you like
She had tried to build a marriage by making my daughter smaller.
There was nothing left to negotiate.
