Chapter 6
Delia insisted she was teaching Sofia responsibility.
I almost admired the consistency.
Cruel people love educational language.
“She married into this family without understanding sacrifice.”
I stared.
“She gave birth to my daughter.”
“That’s motherhood. Not contribution.”
My jaw tightened.
“Define contribution.”
Delia gestured around the penthouse.
“This life.”
“The life I provide?”
“The family provides.”
There it was.
She still did not see the distinction.
My earnings.
My organization.
My marriage.
Somehow all belonged to the abstract family she imagined herself representing.
“You told Sofia she lived here free.”
“She does.”
“No.”
My voice stayed low.
“She lives in her home.”
Delia laughed.
“She never earned this.”
I stepped closer.
“And you did?”
Her face hardened.
“I spent twenty years supporting this family.”
“And now you think that gives you ownership of my wife.”
“No.”
She crossed her arms.
“I think someone had to remind her who she was before she met you.”
That sentence clarified everything.
Delia was not merely punishing Sofia.
She was trying to preserve class distance.
Keep Sofia grateful.
Keep her insecure.
Keep her believing luxury was borrowed and could be revoked.
I looked at Marcus.
“And you?”
He shrugged.
“She became arrogant.”
“How?”
“She started giving instructions to staff.”
“She’s mistress of the home.”
“She’s Sofia Bennett.”
I stared.
No.
That was the problem.
To them, she would always be the mechanic’s daughter, bakery worker’s child, outsider who accidentally married power.
They could tolerate her near me only if she remembered she was beneath them.
Lily’s voice from the hallway interrupted:
“Mommy is Sofia Montoro.”
We all turned.
My daughter stood beside Rosalie, one of the household attendants.
Delia’s face tightened.
Lily pointed at her.
“You’re Delia.”
Simple.
Perfect.
No hierarchy.
No titles.
Just names.
I almost smiled.
My three-year-old understood something the older generation never had.
Marriage had not made Sofia valuable.
May you like
She was already valuable.
The name only told everyone where she belonged now.
