Chapter 9
Marjorie blamed Sienna.
Of course.
“If she had supported her husband, none of this would be happening.”
I stared.
Sienna’s face changed.
Old reflex.
Shame.
Marjorie continued.
“A wife is supposed to help her husband advance.”
I looked at Gavin.
He did not interrupt.
Cowardice wears silence well.
Marjorie pointed toward Sienna’s belly.
“She has everything because of him.”
Sienna finally looked up.
“What?”
Marjorie smiled cruelly.
“A home. Children. Protection.”
I almost laughed.
The house belonged to Ferrante.
Protection belonged to Ferrante.
Gavin had entered Sienna’s life, then his mother rewrote generosity in reverse.
That was how control worked.
Give someone something.
Even if it was never yours.
Then make them feel indebted.
Sienna stood.
“My daughters are not things he gave me.”
Good.
Marjorie’s face hardened.
“You’d be nothing without this marriage.”
There.
The insult she had probably used privately.
I watched Sienna hear it differently now because I was standing there.
Sometimes abuse weakens the moment it loses privacy.
Sienna said:
“I was Nico Ferrante’s daughter before Gavin knew my name.”
I almost smiled.
Not because of my name.
Because she remembered herself.
Marjorie turned to me.
“You made her arrogant.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You made her forget she was allowed to disagree.”
That was the distinction.
Sienna had mistaken peace for submission because the Cole family punished friction.
No more.
I removed Marjorie and Sabrina from the estate that afternoon.
No access to Sienna.
No access to Mila.
No access to the baby.
Gavin stayed.
Not because he deserved it.
Because Sienna had not yet decided what she wanted from him.
Her marriage.
May you like
Her choice.
Not mine.
