Chương 3
“I am standing.”
Daphne kept one hand near Estelle’s elbow without touching her.
Leandro looked at the red mark above his mother’s blouse.
“You should be checked.”
“By whom, the paramedics in the coat closet?”
A small, unwilling sound escaped Daphne before she covered it with a cough.
Even Leandro’s mouth twitched.
The moment vanished quickly, but it broke something in the room.
People breathed again.
Maribel hated that.
Estelle could tell by the way her eyes narrowed.
Leandro turned toward the guests.
“This evening is over.”
Maribel stood.
“No.”
The chair seemed suddenly smaller without her seated in it.
Leandro faced her.
“No?”
“You don’t get to dismiss people from my event.”
“Your event.”
“Yes.”
“You sent the invitations.”
“I organized it.”
“My mother paid for half the catering.”
Maribel’s expression tightened.
“Because she insisted.”
Arthur made the mistake of glancing at Estelle.
Maribel saw it.
“So we’re doing this now.”
Leandro’s patience thinned.
“You already did this.”
Maribel let the silver chain fall from her hand.
It landed against the chair cushion, then slipped partly onto the floor.
“Nobody here knows what she’s been doing to me.”
Estelle closed her eyes briefly.
“Maribel.”
“No, you don’t get to whisper my name and make me behave.”
“I’m trying to stop you from making this worse.”
“For whom?”
Estelle did not answer.
Maribel laughed once under her breath.
“That’s what I thought.”
Leandro stepped between them again.
“What statement did she sign?”
Maribel looked at him with something almost like pity.
“Ask the people you trust.”
Arthur immediately became interested in the pattern of the marble.
Leandro followed her gaze.
“Arthur.”
The older man exhaled.
“I would rather discuss this privately.”
“That stopped being an option when my mother hit the floor.”
Arthur looked at Estelle.
She gave the smallest nod.
He rubbed a thumb along the side of his glass.
“The trustees asked for a written clarification concerning occupancy rights and authority over the property.”
Leandro’s brow furrowed.
“Occupancy rights.”
Arthur nodded.
“The house is held through the family trust.”
“I know how the house is held.”
“Then you know residency doesn’t create governance authority.”
Maribel’s voice sharpened.
“Say it plainly.”
Arthur looked miserable.
Leandro did not.
“What prompted the clarification?”
Arthur hesitated.
Estelle answered for him.
“I did.”
Leandro turned.
His mother’s hand trembled against the front of her pantsuit.
She pressed it flat against her thigh.
“I asked the trustees to review certain instructions Maribel had given the staff.”
Maribel stared at her.
“Instructions.”
“Yes.”
“That’s what we’re calling it.”
Estelle’s voice stayed soft.
“I was trying not to embarrass you.”
“You had my access code changed.”
“After you entered my study while I was asleep.”
“I was looking for a charger.”
“At two in the morning.”
“It was in the desk.”
“In the locked drawer.”
A murmur moved through the guests.
Maribel’s face changed.
Not much.
Just enough.
Leandro noticed.
“So this started before today.”
Estelle glanced at him.
“Months ago.”
His eyes hardened.
“You didn’t tell me.”
“You were dealing with the merger.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It’s the answer I have.”
Maribel folded her arms.
“There it is.”
Leandro ignored her.
“You thought my work mattered more than this?”
“I thought if I told you, you would do exactly what you’re doing now.”
“What am I doing?”
“Choosing a side before you know what happened.”
Leandro stared at her.
The rebuke landed because he had expected gratitude instead.
Estelle saw that too and immediately hated herself for the small relief it gave her.
Maribel bent to pick up the chain.
Daphne moved instinctively closer to Estelle.
Maribel noticed.
“I’m not going to hit her.”
“No,” Daphne said quietly.
“You just drag.”
Estelle whispered, “Daphne.”
“What?”
Daphne’s face flushed.
“I’m sorry, but no.”
Maribel looked at her.
“You should be very careful.”
Leandro turned his head.
“Don’t threaten her.”
“It wasn’t a threat.”
“It sounded like one.”
“Everything sounds like a threat when you’ve already decided I’m dangerous.”
Leandro’s eyes went to the chain in her hand.
Maribel followed his gaze and let it drop again.
This time it stayed on the floor.
A server approached from the side of the room.
He was young, probably twenty-two, and visibly regretted every decision that had led him into hospitality.
“Mr. Valera?”
Leandro looked at him.
“There’s a woman at the front entrance asking for Mrs. Estelle Valera.”
Estelle’s face drained.
Maribel became completely still.
Leandro noticed both reactions.
“Who?”
The server swallowed.
“She said her name is Celia Boone.”
Estelle sat down hard in the nearest ordinary chair.
Not the gilded one.
A small upholstered dining chair beside the wall.
Daphne crouched beside her.
Leandro’s anger vanished beneath alarm.
“Mom?”
Estelle stared at the floor.
Maribel whispered, “You called her.”
Estelle looked up.
“No.”
“You called her.”
“I didn’t.”
Leandro stepped closer.
“Who is Celia Boone?”
Neither woman answered.
That frightened him more than anything so far.
He looked between them.
“Who is she?”
Maribel’s gaze moved toward the doorway.
“She shouldn’t be here.”
The server remained trapped beside them.
Leandro nodded toward the hall.
“Ask her to wait in the library.”
Maribel snapped, “No.”
The server froze.
Leandro turned slowly.
“What?”
“She is not coming into this house.”
Estelle stood again.
Too quickly.
Daphne caught her arm.
“Let her in.”
Maribel stared at Estelle as if she had been slapped.
“You don’t know what she wants.”
“I know exactly what she wants.”
Leandro’s voice was low.
“Then somebody needs to tell me.”
Estelle looked at him.
She had rehearsed this conversation in six different forms and hated every one of them.
None had included a ballroom full of witnesses.
None had included Maribel standing ten feet away with fury and fear fighting across her face.
“Celia worked for your father.”
Leandro’s expression changed.
“In what capacity?”
“She handled private accounting.”
He waited.
Estelle’s throat worked.
“Not company accounting.”
Maribel said, “Don’t.”
Estelle looked at her.
“Not anymore.”
May you like
Maribel took one step forward.
“You have no idea what you’re opening.”
