Chapter 5
Rebecca spoke before Mason did.
Her attorney advised cooperation regarding Ava because the physical conduct had been witnessed by multiple people.
She denied planning to injure the child seriously.
That did not help her much.
“You pushed a four-year-old off a riser,” Elena said.
Rebecca looked down.
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Charles said she would land on the padded floor.”
Lucien’s voice remained controlled.
“She didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Because he said the first fall didn’t sound convincing.”
Lucien stood.
Elena pointed toward his chair.
“Sit.”
He did.
Barely.
Rebecca was crying now.
She explained that Ava had stumbled during rehearsal earlier.
Charles heard Lucien pause inside the council room but not leave.
That gave him the idea.
Or at least that was what Rebecca believed.
“Charles said Lucien’s attention was already half in the gallery.”
“And then?” Elena asked.
“He said we needed to make the point properly.”
“What point?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“That he would choose Ava.”
Lucien stared at her.
“What is wrong with that?”
Rebecca looked ashamed.
“Nothing.”
“Then why was it a test?”
“Because Charles doesn’t think like you.”
That was not enough.
Elena continued.
“What exactly were you told?”
Rebecca rubbed her hands together.
“He said if Lucien left the council while the charter was being discussed, the old guard would finally understand.”
“Understand what?”
“That he wasn’t the same man.”
Lucien’s voice became colder.
“What man?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“The man they followed before Ava.”
There it was.
Not greed.
Not even Mason’s promotion alone.
A judgment about Lucien’s identity.
Rebecca admitted Charles promised no one would permanently remove Ava’s father from anything.
This was supposed to embarrass Lucien.
Make him reconsider the transition charter.
Give Charles leverage in a final private argument afterward.
“What about Mason?” Elena asked.
“He knew more than I did.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did he tell Ava to forget what she said?”
Rebecca looked toward Lucien.
“Because she wasn’t supposed to understand.”
That phrase mattered.
The plan depended on adults controlling the interpretation.
Ava was supposed to cry.
Lucien was supposed to leave.
Mason was supposed to delay him.
The council was supposed to witness the empty chair.
Then Lucien would return.
Nobody expected a four-year-old to explain the trick before it worked.
Ava had heard too much.
When she said:
Grandpa is luring Dad out of the meeting room
the theater became visible.
Mason panicked.
Then attacked.
Rebecca panicked.
Then reached for Ava.
Their violence after the reveal had not been carefully planned.
The setup had.
May you like
That distinction would matter later.
It did not make Rebecca’s original choice less ugly.
