Chapter 5
The reason was succession.
Eventually, everything came back to succession.
Not because Lucy was being named boss.
She was three.
Because her existence gave my branch continuity.
Bianca wanted children with me.
That was not a secret.
What she never said was that she had already decided Lucy stood in the way.
Marcus finally admitted part of it.
“My sister wanted clarity.”
I stared at him.
“About?”
“Future household structure.”
“Say the real word.”
He looked away.
“Inheritance.”
There.
Bianca’s face hardened.
“We were getting married.”
“So?”
“She needed to know where she stood.”
“Beside me.”
“That’s not enough.”
The answer came too fast.
Honest.
I looked at her.
“What did you want?”
She hesitated.
Then finally:
“Any future child of ours should not come second to a child from your first marriage.”
Silence.
Lucy’s mother, Elena, had died eighteen months earlier.
Bianca had entered my life eight months after that.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Kindly.
Or so I thought.
“You considered Lucy competition.”
“No.”
I waited.
Bianca looked away.
Marcus answered:
“She considered the structure unfair.”
There it was.
Adults dressing jealousy in governance.
“What was the plan?”
No answer.
I pushed.
“You make Lucy look difficult. Then?”
Marcus exhaled.
“Boarding school eventually.”
My hands clenched.
Three years old.
They had already discussed removing her from the house later.
“How much later?”
“When she was old enough.”
I almost laughed.
As if age made exile kind.
Bianca finally spoke.
“You would still see her.”
That sentence ended something inside me.
Not the engagement.
That was already dead.
Trust.
Whatever version of Bianca I thought existed was gone.
“You weren’t trying to discipline my daughter.”
May you like
I stepped closer.
“You were trying to make me comfortable with sending her away.”
