Chapter 6
The baby shower had been part of the plan too.
Not the celebration.
The audience.
Linda had invited six Hale relatives I barely knew and three older Moretti associates through Ryan.
Why?
Because she wanted witnesses.
Emily told me what was supposed to happen after the cake.
Ryan would make a toast.
Not about the marriage.
About “continuity.”
The unborn child would be introduced publicly as the future link between Hale strength and Moretti blood.
I almost laughed.
A baby not yet born turned into political furniture.
“What was Emily supposed to say?”
Linda stared at me.
“Nothing.”
Exactly.
My daughter was supposed to stand beside Ryan while everybody else defined her child.
Emily whispered:
“He practiced the toast in front of me.”
I turned.
“What did he say?”
Her voice trembled.
“That the boy would carry the Hale name forward without being controlled by the old Moretti shadow.”
There it was.
Me.
The shadow.
Ryan’s entire marriage had become an argument with my existence.
He wanted my daughter.
My access.
My respect.
But not the reminder that every room still saw where his proximity came from.
I looked at him.
“You’re not angry at Emily.”
He stared.
“You’re angry that marrying her didn’t make you me.”
His face hardened.
May you like
I had found it.
The bruise beneath his pride.
