Chapter 11 - WHAT ADRIANA WANTED MOST
Adriana accepted a meeting only after prosecutors made clear how serious the carriage incident had become.
The meeting took place with attorneys present.
Victor almost did not attend.
Then Rosa said:
“You need to know why.”
Victor looked at her.
“Do I?”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“But one day Lily may ask.”
That convinced him.
Adriana entered without jewelry.
Without performance.
She looked exhausted.
Victor felt nothing.
That surprised him.
She sat.
Her attorney began.
Adriana raised one hand.
“I’ll speak.”
Victor waited.
She looked at him.
“I hated Lily.”
No euphemism.
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because she proved you could love something more than yourself.”
Victor frowned.
Adriana continued.
“I thought that meant you could finally love me that way.”
Victor stared.
“But you loved her.”
“She’s my child.”
“I know.”
“Then why compete?”
Adriana’s eyes filled.
“Because I spent my whole life competing.”
She told him about a mother who compared daughters.
A father who rewarded beauty.
Relationships based on status.
Nothing excused what happened.
Victor knew that.
Adriana did too.
“When Marcus found me,” she continued, “he told me Lily would control everything eventually.”
“She was an infant.”
“He showed me projections.”
Victor almost laughed.
Of course he did.
Numbers.
Trusts.
Influence.
Fear made respectable through spreadsheets.
“He told me if I married you before Luca surfaced, I could stabilize the estate.”
“For yourself.”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
No defense.
“I wanted the house.”
She continued.
“The foundations. The social position. The Santoro name.”
“You already had access.”
“I wanted permanence.”
Victor looked at her.
“And Lily threatened that?”
“In my head.”
She wiped tears away angrily.
“At the wedding, I saw you leave three important guests because Lily made a noise.”
Victor remembered.
She had hiccupped.
Victor went to check.
“That was all?”
“No.”
Adriana laughed bitterly.
“That was the final stupid thing.”
She looked at him.
“I released the brake.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“I thought the carriage would roll a few feet.”
“You pushed it.”
Adriana closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Toward stairs.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“I wanted you scared.”
“Why?”
“So you’d see her as chaos.”
Victor stared in disbelief.
“You thought almost killing my daughter would make me resent her?”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“You were thinking about yourself.”
Adriana began crying.
Victor felt no urge to comfort her.
She continued:
“Marcus told me afterward to use Luca.”
“Did he order you?”
“No.”
That mattered legally.
Morally too.
“He encouraged everything.”
“But you chose.”
“Yes.”
Victor stood.
Adriana looked up.
“Do you hate me?”
He considered.
“No.”
That seemed to hurt her more.
“I don’t want to carry you that long.”
Her face crumpled.
Victor continued:
“Lily will decide someday whether she wants to know your apology.”
Adriana nodded.
“What about us?”
“There is no us.”
She looked down.
Victor left.
Outside, Luca waited in the hallway.
“You okay?”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“You waited?”
“You’re old.”
Victor stared.
“I’m fifty-one.”
“Ancient.”
Victor almost smiled.
They walked together.
Then Luca asked:
“Do you think people can change?”
Victor looked back toward the closed meeting-room door.
“Yes.”
“Would you trust her again?”
“No.”
Luca nodded.
“Both can be true?”
“Yes.”
That answer became useful months later when Luca struggled with Angelo’s legacy.
Dead men could regret.
Living people could change.
May you like
Consequences could remain.
Contradictions did not cancel each other.
