Chapter 13
Spencer tried once to rebuild influence.
Not through captains.
Through Meredith.
He sent her a message:
Adrian will forgive you if you help expose Julia.
Interesting.
Expose what?
He claimed Julia had manipulated Iris against Meredith to secure her own position.
Classic inversion.
The person who noticed control becomes the controller.
Meredith forwarded the message to me.
No reply.
That was the first time I trusted one of her choices after the breakup.
Not enough for reunion.
Enough to notice.
Spencer then contacted Thomas Vale.
Thomas told me immediately.
More progress.
Apparently being lied to once improves verification.
Spencer’s network collapsed because every pathway he used now required direct confirmation.
No dramatic defeat.
Just no one answering.
He eventually left New York.
Good.
Meredith stayed.
Built a life outside Moretti.
Also good.
Then Iris turned five.
She asked for a tea party.
I almost laughed at the universe.
Julia froze.
Iris noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Tea bad?”
Again.
No.
I refused to let Meredith’s cup own the concept.
We held the tea party.
Iris poured apple juice into porcelain cups because actual hot tea around five-year-olds is optimism.
She handed me one.
I took it.
Then stopped.
Not because I feared it.
Because I saw her watching.
I drank.
She smiled.
Then poured herself one first the second round.
Better.
No Daddy drinks first.
No ritual of obedience.
Just a child playing.
Later she fed bread to a stuffed rabbit.
Then ground one piece into a planter.
I stared.
She laughed.
“Meredith did that.”
My chest tightened.
Memory surviving through play.
I crouched.
“How did that feel?”
“Bad.”
“What do we do with bad?”
She thought.
“Tell Daddy?”
“Or Julia.”
“Or me?”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
“Tell you too.”
May you like
Choice again.
That was the goal.
