Chapter 11 - CLAUDIA ASKS TO COME HOME
Claudia moved to a hotel after receiving formal notice.
Not immediately.
Three days.
She packed with a neutral property manager present.
No bodyguards hovering.
No humiliation.
Her lawyer asked whether she could return after the child-protection case ended.
I said:
“I don’t know.”
She called me directly anyway.
First time since the dinner.
“Valentino.”
“What?”
“I did not tear off the brace.”
“No.”
“I did not cancel therapy.”
“No.”
“I did not contact the school.”
“No.”
“Then why am I being treated like Mother?”
I stared at the wall.
“Because you knew.”
Silence.
“You took her room.”
Silence.
“You signed off on moving her things.”
Silence.
“You knew Mother wanted her away for twelve weeks.”
“I thought it was rehab.”
“You knew her doctor hadn’t recommended it.”
Claudia cried.
“I needed somewhere to live.”
“You had two suites.”
“I didn’t want a guest room.”
There.
Not evil.
May you like
Entitlement.
The kind that becomes cruel when another person pays for it.
