Chapter 6
Gareth tried a different defense the next morning.
Money.
Not theft.
Investment.
He claimed his involvement increased interest in Elena’s pieces.
True.
Attendance rose.
More collectors called.
Private viewings became more prestigious.
Rosaline’s name appeared in magazines again.
All true.
“I made her relevant.”
Wrong sentence.
Rosaline looked at him.
“My mother’s work did not need you to make it relevant.”
He corrected.
“I made you visible.”
Worse.
I almost laughed.
There it was.
He genuinely believed visibility belonged to the person arranging the room.
He saw Rosaline’s inherited relationships as underused capital.
Posy as branding.
Marriage as access.
None of this required him to think of himself as evil.
Only efficient.
“You turned your wife into an asset.”
He shook his head.
“I built something around her.”
“No.”
Rosaline answered.
“You built something over me.”
Silence.
Good.
Then she revealed another piece.
Gareth had begun selecting what she wore to collector evenings.
Which earrings.
Which bracelet.
Which necklace.
At first because he knew event themes.
Then because certain pieces made collectors ask certain questions.
He would feed Rosaline answers beforehand.
If she deviated, he punished her later.
Not because facts were wrong.
Because spontaneity threatened his control.
Elena’s jewelry dinners had once been famous for stories.
Rosaline remembering how her mother wore a brooch while cooking.
How one emerald ring scratched a piano.
Small human details.
Gareth hated those.
He wanted provenance.
Dates.
Value.
Prestige.
The collection became colder as his influence grew.
Collectors mistook coldness for Rosaline’s nerves.
Actually it was Gareth’s script.
I asked Adrian:
“Did you notice?”
He nodded slowly.
“She stopped telling stories.”
There.
May you like
A whole room saw personality disappear and called it maturity.
Another elegant mistake.
