Chapter 10
Damien asked to see Sebastian.
I said no.
He asked again.
Still no.
“You’re keeping me from my father.”
I looked at him.
“Your father sent you into my garage carrying the evidence meant to bury you.”
He flinched.
“He deserves to explain.”
“No.”
Damien stared.
Then I softened one inch.
“He can write.”
That irritated him.
Good.
Distance matters when manipulation has had thirty-seven years of practice.
Sebastian sent no letter.
That answered plenty.
Instead, Sloane requested a meeting.
She had worked for him six years.
Why?
Money at first.
Then fear.
Then habit.
Ugly but believable.
Sebastian recruited her when she was drowning in debt and needed work.
He paid generously.
Then gradually turned favors into obligations.
No dramatic blackmail.
Incremental ownership.
She became useful around Damien because he trusted her.
Eventually Sebastian ordered her to watch him.
“Did you care about Damien?”
I asked.
She looked down.
“Yes.”
“Did that stop you?”
“No.”
Good.
No romantic excuse.
Then she gave me the last piece of phase two.
If I were successfully taken from the road, Ruth was supposed to receive a call saying I had been hurt.
She would rush to the vineyard.
Why?
So both of us would be away from the main estate while Marcus gathered the six captains.
Sebastian planned to force me into a choice while the internal structure shifted simultaneously.
External pressure.
Internal withdrawal.
Family panic.
Efficient.
“And Damien?”
Sloane’s voice dropped.
“If everything failed, he took the blame.”
My cousin had already heard this.
Still hurt again.
Then she added:
“If everything succeeded, he was still going to lose the garage.”
Damien looked at her.
“Who got it?”
“Marcus.”
There it was.
Sebastian had promised the same future to different men in different forms.
Damien sabotaged me believing he protected the garage.
Marcus betrayed me believing he protected old Moreau.
May you like
Neither would receive what he imagined.
Control survives by letting everyone believe they are indispensable.
