Ethan turned toward her. His face was composed, but his eyes betrayed a fleeting moment of uncertainty.
“I did not expect you to be included,” he said.
“That is your explanation,” Isabella replied calmly. “That I discovered the truth too early.”
“This was not meant to involve you.”
“You mean I was not meant to have a choice.”
Lydia stood, smoothing the front of her jacket. “This is not personal.”
“It is entirely personal,” Isabella said. “You would not have excluded me otherwise.”
Ethan spoke then. “You are being reassigned because you are volatile.”
The word hung between them like a verdict.
“For securing my own authority?” Isabella asked. “For refusing to be ornamental?”
“For turning Julian’s condition into leverage,” he replied. “For acting outside established protocol.”
Silence filled the room, heavy and suffocating.
“You think I married him because I am greedy,” Isabella said.
“I think you married him because you are angry,” Ethan answered.
“And anger frightens you,” she said quietly.
“It makes you unpredictable.”
She nodded once. “You once believed I was resilient.”
“I still do.”
“Then why are you so afraid of me?”
He had no answer.