Chapter 4
Valentina met Rebecca inside a private greenhouse office.
No capos.
No family.
Only numbers.
Celeste’s companies supplied garden-event staffing, floral installations, and seasonal landscaping.
The work was real.
The prices were not always reasonable.
Valentina had noticed months earlier.
That was one reason she wanted independent governance.
Victor argued family businesses should benefit from family institutions.
Valentina disagreed.
The argument had become personal.
Rebecca slid another file across the desk.
“Victor didn't just ask about removing you.”
Valentina looked up.
“He asked about temporary incapacity.”
“Mine?”
Rebecca nodded.
Her fingertips tightened around the folder.
“He wanted to know who controls the board if the chair becomes medically or emotionally unable to act.”
Valentina sat back.
“And what did you tell him?”
“That the vice chair would step in temporarily.”
“Who?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Victor.”
Valentina’s expression did not change.
That was more frightening than anger.
Rebecca continued.
“I thought he was asking because of your surgery last year.”
Valentina had undergone a minor abdominal procedure.
She recovered within weeks.
Victor had suddenly been very interested in succession during that period.
At the time, she interpreted it as an old man’s obsession with preparedness.
Now the question looked different.
If Valentina became publicly unstable—
if she attacked relatives in front of donors—
Victor could argue she should step aside until the board investigated.
And the trust vote could be postponed.
Valentina’s breathing slowed.
The pond was not only about frightening Owen.
It was about provoking her.
Rebecca looked toward the glass door.
“There’s another problem.”
“What?”
“Some donors received concerns about you before the reception.”
Valentina’s eyes narrowed.
Anonymous messages described her as increasingly volatile after becoming a single mother.
Emotionally exhausted.
Overprotective.
Quick to threaten.
A liability to the foundation.
Valentina stared at the wording.
It sounded familiar.
Victor had used the same language during private family meetings.
She stood.
“Get me the messages.”
Rebecca nodded.
As Valentina reached the door, Rebecca spoke again.
“Celeste received one too.”
Valentina stopped.
“What?”
“Her name was copied on the first complaint.”
That made no sense.
If Celeste was part of the scheme, why would she receive an anonymous warning about Valentina?
May you like
Unless she was not meant to understand the entire plan.
Or unless somebody was preparing to sacrifice her too.
