Chapter 11 - LEANDER BLAMES SERAPHINE
Once the plan became public within the legal proceedings, Leander shifted.
Too quickly.
He began describing the garage as “Seraphine’s escalation.”
True.
Incomplete.
He gave a deposition.
“Did you instruct Seraphine to kick the suitcase?”
“No.”
“Pack it?”
“No direct instruction.”
“Did you know it was packed?”
“Yes.”
“Did you agree Kerensa should leave?”
“I agreed we should propose temporary separation.”
“Did Kerensa agree?”
“No.”
“Did you tell her to deliver the baby and leave?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was furious.”
“Were you trying to pressure Hadrian?”
“Yes.”
There.
His own conduct.
Then:
“Did you believe you had legal right to keep the baby?”
“No.”
“Did you want the baby primarily in your household?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Continuity.”
A word doing too much work.
Then his lawyer asked:
“Did Seraphine tell you Kerensa had already rejected a formal offer?”
“Yes.”
“Had she?”
“No.”
There.
Seraphine lied to him.
Not enough to absolve him.
But relevant.
She told him I had mocked the family plan.
Called the company “old men’s junk.”
Said our baby would “never know Mercers.”
None true.
Leander believed.
Why?
Because it fit his fears.
He wanted a version of me easy to reject.
Then Seraphine’s phone messages.
To a friend:
Once Kerensa is out, Hadrian will come to his senses.
Another:
Leander is too soft about the baby.
Another:
If Hadrian loses the company, he’ll blame her eventually.
Personal agenda.
She wanted our marriage to fail.
Why?
Partly because Hadrian had never accepted her as replacement for his mother.
Partly because she wanted Leander emotionally dependent on her.
No new inheritance heir.
No secret child.
Just status inside the household.
Then one more message:
If Kerensa stays, she becomes the woman Leander has to consult on every grandchild decision.
There.
Seraphine feared being displaced as family matriarch.
The baby changed hierarchy.
Again.
Control.
Then Leander read those messages in deposition.
His face reportedly went gray.
He asked for break.
No sudden divorce.
Good.
People do not dissolve marriages in one document.
But he moved into a hotel temporarily while Seraphine’s criminal case proceeded.
First crack.
Then Hadrian said:
“Dad is going to make her the whole villain.”
“Maybe.”
“She kicked the suitcase.”
“Yes.”
“He built the system.”
“Yes.”
“Do I tell him?”
“He knows.”
“Does he?”
I looked at him.
“Not our job to make him understand faster than consequences do.”
That was new for me.
Then company board asked Hadrian whether he planned to return after leave.
He requested two more weeks.
Board granted unpaid? Maybe partial.
He had accrued leave.
Fine.
No infinite limbo.
Then I returned to prenatal routine.
Glucose check.
Blood pressure.
Baby movement.
Life insisting on ordinary things.
Seraphine remained no-contact.
Leander could contact Hadrian through counsel or company.
Not me directly.
Good.
Then one evening Hadrian entered the nursery.
He stood beside the crib.
“Do you want to keep this room?”
“What?”
“Seraphine designed half of it.”
True.
She had helped months earlier before conflict exploded.
Wallpaper.
Chair.
Lamp.
I looked.
Did I want to tear it all out because she touched it?
No.
“I want to change the chair.”
“Why?”
“It hurts my back.”
He laughed.
Good.
No symbolic purge.
We moved one chair.
May you like
Left the wallpaper.
A room can outgrow the person who helped decorate it.
