Chapter 5 - THE DINNER WHERE ISABELLA SPOKE WITHOUT A VOICE
Friday night's engagement dinner went ahead.
Forty guests.
Family.
Bankers.
Attorneys.
People Vivien wanted impressed.
Isabella entered in a wheelchair.
Marin walked beside her.
Dominic watched Vivien's face.
Relief.
She thought the plan had worked.
During dessert, Vivien stood.
She raised a champagne glass.
“Before Dominic and I marry, there's one person whose blessing matters more than anyone else's.”
She turned toward Isabella.
Dominic almost admired the performance.
“Isabella has welcomed me into this family with such generosity.”
Isabella stared at her.
Vivien looked at Marin.
There.
The command.
Marin's hands trembled.
Dominic had told her she did not have to do this.
She chose to.
Not for him.
For Isabella.
Vivien smiled.
“Marin?”
Every guest looked.
Marin stood.
She moved beside Isabella.
Then said:
“Mrs. Varelli asked me to communicate her answer exactly.”
Vivien relaxed.
Marin continued:
“She does not bless this marriage.”
Silence.
Vivien's face emptied.
Marin wasn't finished.
“She also wants everyone present to know that she has never consented to transfer her voting rights.”
A banker slowly lowered his glass.
Gerard Bell stopped breathing.
Vivien whispered:
“What are you doing?”
Marin looked at her.
“My job.”
Isabella lifted her right hand.
Tapped once.
No.
Then pointed directly at Vivien.
The room became completely still.
Vivien looked toward Dominic.
“Darling.”
He reached into his pocket.
Removed her engagement ring's insurance documentation.
Placed it on the table.
“Take off the ring.”
Her face changed.
“Dominic.”
“Take it off.”
“You're humiliating me.”
He almost laughed.
Then remembered every person in his organization who had heard those words before consequences.
He remained calm.
“No.”
He looked at Isabella.
“You humiliated my mother when you treated her disability like permission.”
Then toward Marin.
“You threatened a child to make his mother lie.”
Vivien stared.
“I never threatened him.”
Dominic played the recording.
Her own voice filled the dining room.
Blue backpack. Red inhaler clipped inside the front pocket. St. Francis Academy.
Vivien went white.
Dominic stopped playback.
Nobody needed more.
She whispered:
“You recorded me?”
“You called me.”
A few people looked away.
Dominic continued:
“Your father is being investigated.”
Her face collapsed.
“Gerard Bell is suspended from every Varelli company and has been reported to the appropriate authorities.”
Bell stood.
Two attorneys blocked him from approaching Dominic.
Not bodyguards.
Attorneys.
Dominic appreciated the symbolism.
Vivien pulled off the ring.
Threw it onto the table.
“You think this maid matters more than me?”
Marin flinched.
Dominic did not.
“This has never been about choosing Marin over you.”
He looked directly at Vivien.
“This is about discovering who you are when you believe the person in front of you has less power.”
Silence.
“That woman is caring for my mother.”
He nodded toward Isabella.
“And you threatened her child because you thought nobody important was listening.”
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Then Dominic said the words Vivien had never expected.
“I was.”
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