The Ruined Bride of Velvet Nights by Brick Moving Ant

I stood up, brushing imaginary dust from my Hermès skirt.

“Security will escort you out. If you ever approach the Rousseau name again, I’ll personally ensure you’re prosecuted for every cent you stole.”

She left screaming obscenities, vowing revenge.

I wasn’t remotely concerned. I had inherited not just Grand–père’s fortune, but his network of

influence as well.

In his final days, Grand–père’s hospital suite overlooked the same Mediterranean waters that had enchanted my mother as a child.

During his lucid moments, he taught me about the business empire I would inherit. During others, he spoke to me as if I were Élise, recounting happy memories I’d never heard before.

“Remember when you performed Swan Lake in the garden? Your mother was furious about the ruined roses, but I couldn’t stop applauding.”

I didn’t correct him. Instead, I held his hand and asked for more stories–collecting precious fragments of my mother’s life that had been lost to me.

Between these tender moments, I explored the estate, discovering my mother’s childhood–her ballet slippers still in her closet, diaries filled with teenage dreams, photographs of her laughing by the same pool where I now swam daily.

News reached me that Caspian had died during a prison riot, his skull crushed by another inmate. Dad had received thirty years without parole, his health already failing in maximum security.

to Grand–père, he

rights itself eventually,” he murmured.

Mediterranean sunset painted his room in gold,

“did Élise speak of me before she

as I imagined my mother might have done, and answered

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Chapter 11

wanted to tell you before she died,” I said, gently adjusting the cashmere blanket around his

face. “She thought of us at the end? What were her words,

now so fragile against the

softly.

think I’ll keep that

in his eyes, but then, remarkably, he

Valentina,” he whispered, reaching for my hand. “You are so much like her. The same quiet

drifted deeper. “Élise, my little ballerina… Papa’s

as he slipped away, peacefully reuniting with the

truth? Mom had indeed left a message. She had told me, on that final night in our Manhattan apartment, that she had forgiven her parents.

forgiveness was hers to give, not mine to

remain unpayable, some