Chapter 8
There was one more layer.
Julia found it.
Not Rafe.
Not Thomas.
The nanny.
She came to me after putting Iris down for a nap.
“Boss, I think you should see something.”
She carried a small notebook.
Meredith’s.
Not stolen.
Found beneath a cushion in Iris’s breakfast room.
Inside were schedules.
My schedules.
Morning calls.
Meetings.
Travel.
The days I drank tea were marked with blue dots.
Four dots.
Next week had six.
I looked at Meredith.
She closed her eyes.
“Why six?”
No answer.
Spencer answered.
“Because the wedding planning meeting was next week.”
Interesting.
Half the Moretti family would be in the house.
Perfect moment to normalize his new role.
Adrian tired.
Meredith managing breakfast.
Spencer carrying decisions.
Captains accepting it.
Habit created before anyone realized hierarchy changed.
Then Julia opened the back cover.
One line in Meredith’s handwriting:
IRIS — KEEP WITH JULIA UNTIL AFTER LUNCH.
My chest tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Meredith whispered:
“I didn’t want her around the meetings.”
“Why?”
“Spencer said children hear too much.”
The same child she used to deliver the cup became inconvenient once the cup had done its job.
I stared.
Meredith’s face crumpled.
“I know how it looks.”
“No.”
I closed the notebook.
“It looks exactly how it is.”
Then Julia said something I did not expect.
“She tried to dismiss me.”
Meredith turned sharply.
Julia continued.
Two weeks earlier, Meredith offered her a generous severance package.
Why?
Julia was “too attached” to Iris.
There.
Remove the adult most likely to notice.
Meredith looked ashamed.
“I thought Julia was undermining me.”
“By protecting my daughter?”
“She corrected me in front of Iris.”
“What did she correct?”
Julia answered.
“Meredith told Iris she had to call her Mommy after the wedding.”
Silence.
I looked at Meredith.
“You did what?”
“She needs consistency.”
“No.”
My voice dropped.
“She needs choice.”
Elena was dead.
Not erased.
Meredith had been trying to occupy a role by authority before earning trust through relationship.
Another sign Spencer had taught her the wrong lesson.
Become necessary.
Control access.
Define family before family defines you.
I took off the engagement ring I wore on a chain beneath my shirt.
May you like
Placed it on the table.
“That future is over.”
