Chapter 4
Doreen’s plan began with Callie’s empty nursery.
Callie told me herself the next morning.
She had lost a pregnancy two years earlier.
Late.
The crib had already been assembled.
Clothes bought.
Name chosen.
Then nothing.
Doreen never let the room disappear.
She kept it ready.
“Mom said it would be used someday.”
Callie’s voice cracked.
I looked at her.
“By whose child?”
She stared at the floor.
“At first, I thought mine.”
“And later?”
“When you got pregnant.”
There it was.
Not sudden madness.
A vacancy waiting for the wrong answer.
“When did your mother first say one baby could be yours?”
“Before we knew there were twins.”
My jaw tightened.
Even one child had been considered transferable.
Callie continued.
Doreen said I was young.
Healthy.
Former cleaner.
No career.
No powerful family.
Surely another pregnancy would come.
I almost laughed.
I had been running three states of Vale territory between prenatal appointments.
But even if I had truly been unemployed?
Still mine.
Doreen’s contempt did not become reasonable because she misjudged my résumé.
Then Sebastian appeared.
He met Callie and Doreen privately.
Not at a Vale property.
At a Hale charity dinner.
He introduced himself as “Seraphina’s uncle.”
No rank.
No explanation.
He confirmed everything Doreen wanted to hear.
Vale women were expected to prioritize family strategy.
Twin boys were often separated historically.
Lie.
Male heirs mattered more.
Partial truth to certain old men.
And the biggest lie:
“Seraphina will agree once she understands it keeps peace.”
I stared at Callie.
“Did you believe him?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ask me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
She cried harder.
“Because I knew you’d say no.”
There.
Again.
No misunderstanding.
No cultural confusion.
They knew.
Sebastian simply gave moral language to what they already wanted.
I looked toward Doreen’s room.
She had called me selfish for wanting both twins.
Callie had called me lucky.
Two babies.
Surely one could heal her.
I looked at her.
“Miles is not what happened after your baby died.”
Her face collapsed.
“No.”
“He cannot finish that story.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
She wiped her eyes.
“Not enough before yesterday.”
That was at least honest.
Then she whispered:
“Sebastian didn’t want just any baby.”
I leaned forward.
“What?”
“The boy.”
Of course.
“Why?”
May you like
Callie’s answer made my blood go cold.
“He said a Vale son should never grow up loyal to a Hale father before he learned who he really belonged to.”
