Chapter 12
Seraphina asked for a meeting before prosecutors made final charging decisions.
Claire recommended against anything private.
The meeting happened with lawyers present.
Seraphina wore black.
No diamonds.
No engagement ring.
She looked smaller without the mansion around her.
“I never meant to hurt Anouk physically.”
Maximilian stared at her.
“You locked her in a storage compartment.”
“I gave her blankets.”
“You limited her food.”
“She refused dinner.”
“For four nights?”
Seraphina’s face tightened.
“She challenged me constantly.”
“She was six.”
“I know how old she was.”
“Then stop saying things that make the number worse.”
Her attorney shifted.
Seraphina looked away.
Maximilian continued.
“Why the word bastard?”
She said nothing.
“Anouk is my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then why say it?”
Seraphina finally looked at him.
“Because it hurt her.”
The answer was so simple that everyone in the room became quiet.
Not ideology.
Not confusion.
A weapon.
She had chosen the word because it injured a child emotionally.
Maximilian leaned back.
“That is the first honest thing you’ve said.”
Tears filled Seraphina’s eyes.
“I was tired of losing to her.”
“There was no competition.”
“There was always a competition.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You created one because you needed love to have a ranking.”
Seraphina wiped her face.
“You would cancel dinners for her.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“You left trips.”
“She was sick.”
“You changed everything whenever she cried.”
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
Maximilian finally understood the personal motive beneath the larger scheme.
Seraphina wanted a household where she became the unquestioned center after marriage.
Anouk guaranteed that would never happen.
Felix then gave her a way to turn the inevitable breakup into profit and leverage.
The financial scheme did not create Seraphina’s resentment.
It monetized it.
Maximilian asked:
“Did you ever love her?”
Seraphina looked at the table.
“No.”
At least she did not lie.
The meeting ended.
May you like
Maximilian left without raising his voice once.
That frightened Seraphina more than when he had thrown her suitcase under the stairs.
