Chapter 10
Sofia’s father wanted the Pike route removed.
Immediately.
I refused.
That almost started the conflict Beatrice wanted.
He stared across my council table.
“Your relatives tried to drug my daughter.”
“Warren did.”
“His mother planned it.”
“Yes.”
“And you protect their territory?”
“No.”
I kept my voice calm.
“I protect the difference between guilt and opportunity.”
He leaned back.
I continued.
“If I hand you their route tonight, what does every Pike captain believe?”
“That consequences exist.”
“No.”
“That the Marlowes used Sofia’s humiliation to expand.”
Silence.
He understood.
Did not like it.
Different.
“We review the corridor in thirty days.”
“Why?”
“Performance.”
“Not punishment?”
“Exactly.”
He stared at me for a long moment.
Then nodded once.
That decision saved more than business.
It prevented Sofia from becoming another tool.
She had already been targeted because of family power.
I would not turn her suffering into justification for her father gaining more.
Later she found me alone.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not using me.”
That sentence hurt.
She understood more than most.
Powerful families turn harmed people into banners quickly.
Justice becomes expansion.
Protection becomes control.
I had done versions of that before.
Not this time.
“What do you want?”
I asked.
Sofia looked toward the ballroom.
“A new cake.”
I laughed.
She smiled.
“And Warren nowhere near it.”
May you like
“Done.”
Simple requests are underrated.
