Chapter 16 - BIANCA WITHOUT THE CHAIR
Bianca’s power had always depended on rooms agreeing she had it.
Coletti dinners.
Foundation boards.
Family weddings.
She entered and people adjusted.
After the scandal, people still respected her age.
Some still loved her.
But fewer obeyed automatically.
That felt to her like exile.
She blamed Serena at first.
Then Faye.
Then me.
Eventually, perhaps, herself.
Her therapist’s notes were private.
I did not need access.
Behavior was enough.
She stopped calling Miles “the heir.”
Good.
She began visiting him under Faye’s supervision.
First visit, she brought a silver rattle engraved simply:
Miles.
No title.
Progress.
Then she asked Serena whether she could meet Helena.
Serena said not yet.
Bianca accepted.
Also progress.
Then Bastian set a boundary with his mother.
No discussing Montesi inheritance around either child.
No comparing them.
No criticizing Serena or Faye in front of them.
If violated, visits ended.
That came from him.
I was surprised.
Maybe fatherhood had reached somewhere ambition did not.
Then his regulatory settlement.
Civil fine.
Three-year restriction from serving as principal executive of certain regulated investment offerings.
Compliance monitor for Coletti fundraising.
No criminal conviction.
The bank kept the credit line under tighter covenants.
Coletti Freight stabilized under professional CEO after asset sale.
Bastian worked as strategy executive at lower authority and salary.
Consequence.
Not ruin.
Then his investor fund offered rescission to three investors.
Two stayed.
One exited.
Loss manageable.
Then Faye.
She built her own career.
No marriage to Bastian.
They co-parented Miles.
Sometimes badly.
Mediation.
Normal.
Then Serena started dating after two years.
Slowly.
She did not tell me first.
Good.
A man named Adrian Knox, pediatric anesthesiologist.
I disliked his shoes.
That was my only criticism.
Serena warned:
“If you investigate him like a merger, I will cut you off.”
“I was going to do basic background.”
“No.”
“Fine.”
I did basic public checks? Better respect. I did nothing beyond normal meeting.
Growth.
Then Helena Mae at three.
She loved Miles.
Called him “Milo” because speech.
They fought over trucks.
No awareness one had Montesi trust rights and the other did not.
Correct.
Then Serena asked Sterling a hard question:
“Can I leave personal assets to Miles someday if I want?”
“Yes.”
Her own property subject to estate planning.
Could she make him Montesi trust beneficiary?
No, not unless he became her legal child through real adoption and trust terms allowed, which was not being pursued.
Good.
Choice within boundaries.
Then she created a small education fund for Miles personally.
Why?
“He is Helena’s brother.”
Faye cried.
Bastian refused to let it reduce his support obligations.
Correct.
Serena said:
“It doesn’t.”
No one used generosity as control.
Then Bianca learned.
She called Serena.
First direct conversation in years.
“Why would you give Miles money after everything?”
Serena answered:
“Because he didn’t do anything.”
Silence.
Then Bianca cried.
Maybe that was the first time she understood.
The children had never been opposing branches.
Adults made them so.
Then Bianca asked:
“Can I apologize in person?”
Serena said:
“Not yet.”
Again.
No timeline owed.
Then I found the old ornate chair in storage.
Dust.
I considered donating it.
Museum?
No.
Sold at estate auction for $8,400.
Proceeds went to restoration charity.
Someone bought a chair that once represented family hierarchy.
May you like
Now it was furniture in a stranger’s house.
Excellent.
