Chapter 11 - Victor Tried to Call the Girl “Temporary Disappointment”
Victor’s deposition months later revealed just how deeply the obsession had infected him.
Asked how he felt when he learned the newborn was female, he said:
“Disappointed.”
Asked whether that justified his comments, he replied:
“I was under enormous pressure.”
Asked why he allowed Julian to believe the child had been confirmed male, Victor said:
“I was preserving family stability.”
Then came the phrase that ended any remaining sympathy Sofia might have had.
“The girl was a temporary disappointment in a larger succession problem.”
The girl.
His granddaughter.
A temporary disappointment.
Lorenzo was not present when Sofia read that transcript.
Good.
She was afraid of what his face would have looked like.
Instead Sofia looked at the baby sleeping beside her in the apartment she had rented after leaving Julian.
Her daughter had a name now.
Lucia Rose Bennett.
Sofia touched one tiny foot.
“Not temporary,” she whispered.
Lucia slept through the declaration.
May you like
That made Sofia smile for the first time all day.
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