Chapter 2 — Lucien’s Warning
Garrick read the line again.
Then looked at Therese.
“He wrote this about me?”
Therese did not soften the answer.
“Yes.”
Garrick looked back at the page.
Mireille remained wrapped around her mother’s waist.
She could not understand every word.
But she understood that the suitcase had been forgotten.
Garrick continued reading.
You love this family fiercely.
I know that.
I also know that when you are frightened of losing someone, you begin treating love as permission to decide for them.
Garrick’s face tightened.
Therese watched him silently.
The letter continued.
You did it with me.
I am afraid you may someday do it with my daughter.
Garrick stopped.
“He never said this to me.”
Therese stared.
“He did.”
“Many times.”
Garrick looked toward her.
“Not like this.”
“Because every time he tried, you turned it into an argument about gratitude.”
Garrick flinched.
Therese continued.
“He told you he didn’t want Mireille raised under the same expectations he had.”
“You told him Bellgrave was her inheritance.”
“He said he wanted her to choose what Bellgrave meant to her.”
“You told him children do not choose family duty.”
Garrick looked away.
He remembered those conversations.
He had remembered them differently.
In his memory, Lucien had been stressed.
Young.
Uncertain.
A son complaining about obligations he would eventually appreciate.
Now Lucien’s letter framed those arguments differently.
Not youthful rebellion.
A warning.
Garrick continued reading.
If I am alive, I will handle these disagreements myself.
If I am not, Therese is Mireille’s parent.
Not Bellgrave.
Not the Vale family name.
Not you.
Garrick lowered the page.
His eyes filled.
Mireille looked up at Therese.
“What does it say?”
Therese stroked her hair.
“Daddy wanted Mommy to make the important decisions for you.”
Mireille looked toward Garrick.
“Grandpa can’t?”
Therese chose her words carefully.
“Grandpa can love you.”
“He can help.”
“But he doesn’t get to decide that you stay somewhere when Mommy says we’re leaving.”
Garrick’s face fell.
He looked toward the suitcase.
Then placed it slowly back on the floor.
Mireille immediately grabbed the handle.
Garrick did not stop her.
But he was not finished reading.
The second page contained something Therese had never told him.
Lucien had not merely written about family boundaries.
Before his death, he had quietly changed the legal structure around Mireille’s inheritance.
And Garrick had spent years assuming the exact opposite arrangement existed.