Chapter 10
Owen laughed.
“You’d deny your own daughter?”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“I’d deny you the ability to use her name.”
He frowned.
“Then who comes after you?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer terrified old families more than weakness.
Uncertainty.
No bloodline promise.
No child groomed before choice.
No council guaranteeing its own survival through succession.
“Someone adult.”
I continued.
“Someone proven.”
Maya looked at me.
Not surprised.
We had discussed none of this.
But it felt obvious now.
Sadie would grow up with options.
That was more valuable than a chair.
Richard objected.
“You’re ending Avellino continuity.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“I’m ending your definition of it.”
Family survived without predetermined ownership.
If it could not, it deserved to change.
Then Rafe entered with the recovered accounts.
Not legal seizure.
Internal control.
I froze every fund tied to Celeste’s network.
The old capos receiving donor money would be reviewed individually.
Some were truly struggling.
They would continue receiving support.
Openly.
Without buying loyalty.
Others had been taking money while running profitable operations.
That ended.
Owen scoffed.
“You’re rewarding betrayal.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“I’m separating need from allegiance.”
He did not understand.
Of course.
To Owen, money without obedience was wasted.
To me, that was the entire point of support.
Celeste asked what happened to her.
I answered simply.
“No contact with Sadie.”
Her face collapsed.
“Victor.”
“No.”
“I’m family.”
“Yes.”
She expected the word to open the door.
It didn’t.
“You forced my daughter to hold a flame near her mother.”
“She was never going to touch Maya.”
Wrong defense.
“You made Sadie believe she might.”
May you like
That was enough.
Fear counts even when the threat stops inches away.
