Chapter 12
Ruth finally told me why she stayed in the garage all these years.
I thought I knew.
I didn’t.
After my father’s Albany accident, Henri asked her to leave Moreau entirely.
“Why?”
“He thought Sebastian would come after me next.”
“Did he?”
“Not directly.”
Ruth refused to leave.
Henri argued.
She won.
Then he asked one thing.
Stay near the cars.
Not because he feared sabotage every day.
Because garages revealed people.
Who arrived secretly.
Who borrowed vehicles.
Who changed plates.
Who met drivers.
Who returned after midnight.
Ruth became the eyes everyone forgot were open.
I stared.
“My father made you a spy?”
She slapped my arm lightly with her cane.
“Supervisor.”
Fair.
“Did he tell you to watch me?”
“All the time.”
I almost laughed.
“Anything embarrassing?”
“Extensive archive.”
Good.
Then serious.
Henri told her:
“If Vincent ever becomes head, don’t protect him from mistakes. Protect him from people who make his mistakes useful.”
That sentence stayed.
Sebastian had not created every weakness.
I did.
I let Damien operate too freely because he was cousin.
Trusted Marcus because he had history.
Shared schedule details with Sebastian because he was uncle.
None of those were crimes.
But my system assumed family access equaled low risk.
Wrong.
Ruth looked at me.
“Don’t turn paranoid now.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You have paranoid face.”
Apparently speech face runs in many families.
She continued.
“Trust people.”
Then:
“Just stop pretending trust means never checking.”
That became the reform.
Not surveillance everywhere.
Not suspicion.
Clear access.
Independent checks.
No single relative able to clear a garage floor under my name without confirmation.
No vehicle released after unscheduled work without second inspection.
Practical.
Boring.
Good.
Sebastian built his plan around nobody wanting to verify a family order.
May you like
I changed that.
Tradition hates confirmation because confirmation removes mystique.
