Chapter 2

On the drive home, Elena stayed curled in the corner of the back seat, clutching the edge of my coat with both hands.

“Mom, I didn’t bully Sabrina.”

Her voice was faint and hoarse from crying and screaming for so long.

“She wanted to borrow the dress I’m wearing to my eighteenth-birthday gala. I told her the alterations weren’t finished, so I couldn’t lend it to her. That was when she deliberately poured coffee over my shoes.”

“All I did was tell her to stay away from me. Then Dante and the others showed up.”

I pulled my daughter into my arms and gently rubbed her back.

“I believe you.”

Elena was silent for a moment before she looked up at me.

“They heard me calling for help, didn’t they?”

I couldn’t lie to her.

“Yes.”

The last trace of hope faded from her eyes.

Seventeen years ago, I brought four boys home from different foster homes.

Dante was already twelve. He trusted no adult, yet he would save part of his own meals for the younger children.

Luca was used to solving problems with his fists. Matteo rarely spoke, but he remembered every weakness he observed. Nico was the youngest and the most impulsive. He had once allowed another boy to break his wrist rather than abandon a smaller child he was protecting.

I gave them new identities, the best education money could buy, and eventually positions inside Leeds Group.

I also told them that Elena was their sister.

They did not need to worship her, and I never wanted them to hurt anyone in her name. I only asked them to protect one another the way a real family should.

For many years, they did.

Dante stayed beside Elena’s bed whenever she was sick. Luca once drove three hours to bring her a costume she had forgotten at home. Matteo reviewed every school application she submitted, while Nico confronted anyone who mocked her for being timid.

That was why I had failed to notice when their protection turned into judgment.

They had begun deciding what Elena should be allowed to keep, what she should surrender, and which parts of her life ought to be given to someone they considered more deserving.

The following morning, I suspended their personal credit cards, reclaimed the vehicles registered under the Leeds family trust, and revoked their access to every family residence.

At eight o’clock, Robert entered the dining room and placed several deactivated access cards in front of me.

“Ma’am, Dante and the others didn’t return to the main estate last night.”

“Where are they?”

“At the lake house in Greenwich.”

I set down my coffee.

The house was intended as Elena’s eighteenth-birthday gift, although it was still legally held by the family trust. Over the past year, she had chosen every piece of furniture herself and converted the south-facing room on the first floor into a music studio.

“How did they get inside?”

Robert hesitated.

“The staff received direct orders from Nico. Since he oversees corporate security and the Leeds properties, they assumed all four men had the authority to use any residence held under the Leeds name.”

“What else?”

“Dante ordered the staff to clear out Miss Elena’s music studio. They’re turning it into a room for Miss Sabrina.”

Elena was sitting at the other end of the dining table.

The moment she heard that, she stood up.

“My cello is still there.”

It was the instrument her grandmother had left her.

“I’ll handle it,” I told her. “You need to stay home and rest.”

“Mom—”

“Trust me.”

Elena studied my face for several seconds before she finally nodded.

Forty minutes later, I arrived at the lake house.

The front gates stood wide open, and a moving truck was parked in the driveway. Several workers were carrying out Elena’s art books, sheet music, and personal decorations.

When I entered the living room, Sabrina was sitting on the sofa in Elena’s favorite silk robe, drinking coffee.

Dante sat beside her, revising a project document on his laptop.

When he saw me, he simply closed the computer.

“You arrived earlier than I expected, Mom.”

He sounded completely at ease, as though the house had always belonged to him.

“Who gave you permission to move in?”

“Sabrina is preparing her college applications and needs somewhere quiet to study.” Dante rose from the sofa. “This place has been sitting empty. We only intend to stay for a few weeks.”

Sabrina immediately put down her coffee.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Leeds. I didn’t know you didn’t want me here.”

She clutched the collar of Elena’s robe and looked at me uneasily.

“If I’ve caused trouble, I’ll leave right now.”

Luca came out of the kitchen and handed her a glass of warm milk.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

Then he turned to me.

“We’re part of this family too. We shouldn’t need a board meeting every time we invite a friend to stay at a family property.”

“This house belongs to Elena.”

“She isn’t eighteen yet, and the property is still held by the family trust.” Matteo came downstairs carrying a set of architectural drawings. “Technically, she doesn’t own it.”

I looked at him.

“So you believe that gives you the right to decide how it’s used?”

Matteo remained calm.

“We’re making reasonable use of an empty property. Elena lives in Westchester and hardly visits this place. Sabrina needs it more than she does.”

There it was again.

Need.

Whenever Sabrina wanted something, everything Elena owned suddenly became an unnecessary luxury.

“Where is the music studio?”

Dante adjusted his glasses.

“Sabrina has nowhere to store her clothes and application materials, so I had the room cleared temporarily.”

I walked directly toward the room at the end of the first-floor hallway.

When I opened the door, two workers were installing new wardrobes. The rug Elena had chosen was rolled against one wall, while her sheet music and performance photographs had been thrown into cardboard boxes.

Her cello lay on its side in the corner.

Two strings had snapped, and a deep scratch cut across the body.

I crossed the room and carefully lifted the instrument.

“Who touched it?”

Nico was leaning against the doorway, turning a set of car keys around one finger.

“There was an accident while the workers were moving it.”

“Who told them to move it?”

“I did.”

There was no apology in his voice.

“It’s an old cello. I already had my assistant contact the best dealer in New York. They can deliver a new one tomorrow.”

“This cello belonged to Elena’s grandmother.”

“I know.”

Nico shrugged.

“But the damage has already happened. We should solve the problem instead of obsessing over an old object.”

I stared at him.

“You think money can solve everything?”

“It can solve the problem of a damaged cello.” He glanced at me. “It would have been replaced even faster if you hadn’t frozen my cards.”

Sabrina came to stand beside Dante, tears already running down her face.

“This is all my fault. The cello never would have been damaged if I hadn’t come here.”

She caught Dante by the sleeve.

“I should go back to my school dorm. I don’t want to come between you and your family.”

Dante patted her hand.

“This isn’t your fault.”

Then he turned to me.

“Mom, what happened at the school is over. You froze our cards and reclaimed the vehicles, and we didn’t argue with you. Now you’ve followed us here. Do you intend to turn every minor disagreement into a war?”

“A minor disagreement?”

“The cello can be repaired, and the room can be restored.” Dante’s voice remained measured. “The Brooklyn development is at a critical stage, and we handle contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars every day. I don’t have time to keep arguing over who gets to use one room.”

“Then there’s nothing to discuss.”

I took out my phone and called Robert.

“Tell the property staff to stop moving Elena’s belongings and restore her music studio immediately.”

Robert was silent for several seconds.

“Ma’am, the property manager is refusing to comply. He says Nico controls corporate security and the Leeds properties. Without his written authorization, the staff won’t alter the current arrangements.”

A faint smile appeared on Nico’s face.

He deliberately avoided looking at me and merely swung the car keys around his finger.

This was no longer about using Elena’s house without permission.

They were testing who truly controlled everything held under the Leeds name.

Dante reopened his laptop, his confidence fully restored.

“You should go home, Mom. We can discuss this again once you’ve calmed down.”

I ended the call and sent a message to a number I had not contacted in more than a decade.

The reply came three seconds later.

[AT YOUR COMMAND, DONNA.]

I put away my phone before anyone could see the screen.

When I left that world, I placed the Leeds properties and security operations under Nico’s control. I entrusted the daily management of Leeds Group to Dante and gradually handed more authority to Luca and Matteo.

They seemed to have forgotten that whatever power I gave them could also be taken back.

I looked toward the front entrance.

Three black SUVs without corporate markings were already turning into the driveway.

“Robert.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Stop everyone in this house.”

Then I looked at Dante as the confidence slowly disappeared from his face.

“If your people no longer understand my orders, I’ll replace them with people who do.”