Chapter 13
Ramona requested mediation with Benedict first.
He agreed.
Ainsley declined.
Dulcie did not attend.
Ramona entered wearing a simple navy dress.
No photographer.
No RH House assistant.
No polished mother-daughter branding.
Just a woman facing the father of her child.
She began:
“I never intended Nell to be physically injured.”
Benedict stared.
“You cut off her braid.”
“I mean her body.”
“I know what you mean.”
“I knew the scissors wouldn’t touch her scalp.”
“That sentence is worse than you think.”
Ramona looked down.
He continued.
“You calculated how much harm you thought was acceptable.”
Her eyes filled.
“I was desperate.”
“About Dulcie?”
“Yes.”
“And the money?”
Ramona hesitated.
“Yes.”
There.
Both.
She admitted RH House was struggling.
The campaigns mattered.
The accounting frightened her.
But losing school-week custody frightened her more.
“I thought Ainsley wanted to replace me.”
Benedict shook his head.
“She wanted Dulcie to have a normal school week.”
“She hates me.”
“She doesn’t trust you.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Ramona looked away.
Then Benedict asked:
“Why Nell?”
Ramona took a long time.
“Because everyone compares them.”
“Who?”
“Your mother. Cousins. Brands. People online.”
“Nell isn’t online.”
“Exactly.”
He frowned.
Ramona continued.
“Nell gets to be pretty without earning anything from it. Dulcie has to perform.”
That sentence revealed more than Ramona intended.
Benedict leaned back.
“Who made Dulcie perform?”
Ramona’s face collapsed.
She had no answer that did not end with herself.
Then she said:
“I built something for her.”
“You built something around her.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“Maybe not.”
He looked at her.
“But it’s what the audit shows.”
Ramona cried quietly.
Then:
“I love my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Does she know?”
Benedict considered.
“She knows you love her.”
Ramona looked relieved.
Then he continued.
“She also thinks she has to protect you.”
The relief vanished.
“That is what you need to fix.”
Not:
Win her back.
Not:
Get custody restored.
Fix the part where a ten-year-old believed Mom’s happiness depended on her silence.
Ramona whispered:
“Will Ainsley ever forgive me?”
Benedict answered:
May you like
“That is not your most important problem.”
For once, Ramona did not argue.
