Chapter 13

Melissa lived in a penthouse on the west side of the city. Everything about it was cold. The furniture was white. The curtains were white. Even the flowers she kept on the dining table were white.

Mara sat across from her on the sofa, her bag still on her lap. She had not taken off her coat.

"He said it to my face," Mara said. Her voice was flat.

"What exactly?" Melissa asked, leaning forward slightly.

"That she is the wronged one."

Melissa was quiet for a moment. Then she sat back.

"He said that to you."

"Word for word."

"And Agnes. She gave him everything. Eighteen months." Mara shook her head slowly.

"So that woman planned this from the beginning," Melissa said. Her voice had no surprise in it.

"She built a case before she even showed her face."

"Yes," Mara said. "That is exactly what she did."

Melissa stood up and walked to the window. She looked down at the street below for a long moment.

"Tell me something," she said without turning around. "How does Rane look at her?"

"What do you mean?"

"When she is in the room. When she speaks. How does he look at her?"

Mara said nothing.

That silence told Melissa everything she needed.

"I see," Melissa said quietly. She turned from the window.

"You need to understand something, Mara." She walked back and sat down.

"Rane is not angry at you because of the child. He is not angry because of Agnes or the folder. He was already looking for a reason."

"What are you saying?"

"I am saying that Isabella came back at the right time. Not for the child. Not for the shares." Melissa folded her hands on her knee.

"She came back for him."

Mara stared at her.

"That is not what this is," Mara said.

"Are you sure?" Melissa held her gaze.

"Because a man who hated a woman does not start calling her the wronged one after one conversation. That takes something deeper. That takes something that never fully went away."

"Rane and I have been together for years."

"You have been convenient for years," Melissa said. Her voice was not cruel. Just direct. That was almost worse.

"That is not the same thing as chosen."

Mara set her bag down on the cushion beside her. It was the first time she had let go of it since she arrived.

"So what are you telling me to do?" Mara asked.

"I am not telling you to do anything," Melissa said. "I am telling you what I see. You have been running that house. You have been managing that child, managing him, managing everything. And what did you get for it?"

"I got six years."

"Six years of being second," Melissa said.

The room was very quiet.

"What would you do?" Mara asked. Her voice was lower now.

"If it were me?" Melissa tilted her head.

"If it were me, I would stop making it easy for him. I would stop being the woman he takes for granted. I would remind him of everything he stands to lose."

"He already threatened me today."

"Let him threaten. Words are easy." Melissa smiled, and it did not reach her eyes.

"He has not done anything yet. He set up visitation. He gave a warning. He has not moved you out. He has not ended things. He is still deciding."

"He said he regrets letting me into the house."

"He said a lot of things this morning because he was feeling guilty," Melissa replied.

"Guilty men make speeches. They do not always follow through."

Mara was quiet for a long moment.

"And the child?" she asked.

"What about her?"

"Isabella is going to get formal visitation. She is going to start coming and going from that house like she belongs there." Mara paused. "I cannot allow that."

"Then do not allow it," Melissa said simply.

"Rane arranged it legally."

"Legal arrangements can be complicated." Melissa shrugged one shoulder.

"A child is unpredictable. Children get upset. Children have accidents. Children say things that make situations very difficult."

"She is six years old."

"Exactly," Melissa said. Her eyes did not move from Mara's face. "She is young. She can be guided."

Mara looked at her.

"What are you saying, Melissa?" She kept her voice steady.

"I am saying that you have been too soft with that girl," Melissa replied. "You have been trying to win her over. Giving her things. Letting her have a voice. A child does not need a voice. A child needs structure."

"Agnes documented everything I did with that child."

"Agnes is gone," Melissa reminded her. "And she took her notes with her. But that house is still yours to manage. Rane works. Rane travels. He is not there every hour of every day."

"He will have security watching now."

"Security watches for strangers." Melissa leaned forward.

"They do not report on a stepmother who decides the child needs a stricter routine. More structure. Less outside contact."

Mara felt something shift in her chest. She was not sure if it was fear or something darker.

"She already flinches," Mara said quietly. She was not sure why she said it.

"Good," Melissa said without missing a beat. "That means she responds to authority. Use that."

"She is a child." Mara's voice came out thinner than she intended.

"She is also the only thing keeping you relevant in that house right now," Melissa said.

"If Isabella walks in and that child runs to her, if Lily chooses her mother over you in front of Rane, then you have lost. Not eventually. That day. That moment."

Mara stood up. She walked to the window and stood where Melissa had stood a few minutes ago. She looked down at the street. The people below moved quickly, none of them looking up.

"The visitation is being filed tonight," Mara said.

"Then start tonight," Melissa said from behind her. "Before it is official. Before it becomes a habit. Make Lily understand that Isabella is not someone she should want. Make the visits feel like something to dread, not a reward."

"How?"

"You are creative, Mara," Melissa said. "You always have been. Make the child anxious before each visit. Make the time feel unstable. Children that age pick up on energy. If Lily walks into those visits already crying, already off-balance, Isabella will spend all her time managing the meltdown instead of building a bond."

Mara turned from the window.

"And if Rane finds out?"

"He will not," Melissa said. "Because Lily will not be able to explain it. She does not have the words. She will just be emotional and difficult and Rane will assume it is adjustment. He will assume it is the situation affecting her."

"He is already paying more attention."

"Let him pay attention to Isabella," Melissa replied. "That is actually what you want. The more time he spends watching Isabella, the less he is watching you."

Mara picked up her bag. She held it for a moment without moving.

"You said he is still deciding," Mara said.

"Yes."

"And Isabella?"

"She is pulling him in the other direction," Melissa said. "You know that. I know that. The question is what you are willing to do about it."

"I told him I know things about him. Secrets." Mara's voice was quiet but deliberate.

"That is insurance, not a weapon," Melissa replied. "You use that if he tries to throw you out completely. Not now. Not while he is still in the middle. If you pull that card too early, he will spend his energy building a case against you instead of feeling afraid of what you know."

"So I wait."

"You manage. There is a difference." Melissa stood up.

"You manage the child. You manage access. You manage how that little girl feels when Isabella is near." She paused.

"And you remind Rane, quietly and without pressure, that you have been loyal. That you stayed. That Isabella left."

Mara walked to the door. She stopped just before she opened it.

"What if she is actually better for Lily than I am?" she said.

The question surprised even her. She had not meant to say it out loud.

Melissa looked at her for a long moment.

"That is not the question," she said finally. "The question is what happens to you if she is."

Mara opened the door.

She did not answer.

She did not need to.

* * *

That night Mara came back to the house at nine. The staff was quiet. The lights in the main hall were dimmed.

She went upstairs without stopping. She passed Lily's room. The door was slightly open. She could see the soft glow of the nightlight inside.

She pushed the door open just enough to look in.

Lily was awake. She was sitting up in bed, holding the small stuffed rabbit that had been there since before Mara came into the house. Her eyes were open, and she was looking at the ceiling.

"You should be asleep," Mara said. Her voice was flat.

Lily turned her head. She did not say anything.

"Put the rabbit down and go to sleep," Mara said. She stepped back from the door.

Lily slowly lay back down. She kept the rabbit.

Mara watched her for another second. Then she pulled the door closed. Not gently.

She walked down the hall to her own room. She sat on the edge of the bed in the dark for a while, still in her coat.

She thought about what Melissa had said. She thought about Isabella's face outside the building. She thought about Rane saying it without hesitation, without looking away.

She is the wronged one.

Mara pulled out her phone. She opened a contact. She stared at the name for a long time before she typed a single message.

I need to talk to you about the visitation schedule. The child is not stable. I think the timing should be reconsidered.