Chapter 9
Bianca tried to leave after midnight.
She walked toward the staircase as though she were retrieving a wrap.
Mason’s liaison stepped into view but did not touch her.
“Mrs. Whitmore, Mr. Whitmore has requested that no records or devices be removed.”
“This is my home.”
I heard the sentence from across the ballroom.
For months, Bianca had said my home.
My staff.
My cards.
My daughters.
Possession came easily to her.
Responsibility never had.
I approached with Grace asleep against my chest.
The other girls rested beneath blankets near the fireplace while Dr. Mercer continued her quiet assessment.
“Where are you going?”
Bianca looked at Grace.
Not lovingly.
Calculating how the child’s position affected the argument.
“I need air.”
“You can sit on the terrace.”
“It’s freezing.”
Ava heard her.
Her eyes opened.
The hypocrisy entered the room without anyone naming it.
Bianca crossed her arms.
“I will not be imprisoned in a house I helped create.”
“You redecorated it.”
“I made it livable after Elizabeth.”
My restraint nearly failed.
Grace moved in her sleep.
That saved Bianca from hearing the answer my anger wanted to give.
Instead, I lowered my voice.
“You will not use my first wife’s death to justify what you did to her children.”
Bianca glanced toward the guests who remained.
Most had stopped pretending not to listen.
She needed an audience when she felt powerful.
Now the audience had become evidence.
“This marriage is over if you continue humiliating me.”
I looked at the girls.
Ava awake beneath two blankets.
Mia holding Hannah’s hand.
Chloe drinking warm water carefully.
Grace breathing against my chest.
Then I looked at Bianca.
“The marriage ended before I entered the room.”
Her face hardened.
“You will regret speaking to me like that.”
Perhaps she expected fear.
Instead, Mason’s voice came through my phone.
“Ethan, the preservation notices have been issued.”
No account balance.
No confirmation of frozen cards.
No final consequence.
Only enough for Bianca to understand that deleting evidence would no longer erase it.
She looked toward Lorraine.
Lorraine stepped away.
Then toward the remaining guests.
They did the same.
Bianca stood alone beside the banquet table where she had danced minutes earlier.
The champagne bottle rolled slowly toward the edge.
May you like
No one reached to catch it.
Read the full story 👉 Bianca tried to threaten Ethan with the marriage, but he had already chosen his daughters before she finished the sentence.
