Chapter 23
The Bellandi hotel division received a proposal from Serena’s employer when Lily was sixteen.
Victor wanted it rejected immediately.
Rebecca said no.
The proposal came from Arden Events Group.
Large.
Established.
Serena was one of more than eighty employees.
She had no ownership.
No executive authority.
The company wanted a three-year events contract with two Bellandi hotels.
Victor stared at the procurement file.
“No.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“On what basis?”
“Serena works there.”
“Yes.”
“That is basis.”
“No.”
He hated when she did that.
The procurement rules created after the wedding required objective review.
Conflict disclosure.
Independent scoring.
Excluding an entire company because one non-executive employee had harmed Victor’s daughter years earlier was not automatically reasonable.
“Then she cannot touch the account.”
“That can be a condition.”
“No contact with Lily.”
“Already true.”
“No access to private family events.”
“Reasonable.”
“No billing authority.”
“She wouldn’t have it.”
Victor frowned.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Deeply.”
The review continued.
Arden scored second.
Another company won.
Victor felt relieved.
Then Rebecca ruined it.
“You realize the system worked without your preferred outcome.”
“I preferred the outcome we got.”
“That is not what I said.”
Lily heard about the procurement issue later because Victor told her.
Not because she needed approval rights.
Because Serena’s employment could have created incidental proximity.
Lily asked:
“Would you cancel if they won?”
“No.”
That answer surprised both of them.
Victor corrected.
“If the controls were sufficient.”
“Would Serena work wedding?”
“There is no wedding.”
“Event.”
“No private family event.”
Lily thought.
“Because me?”
“Partly.”
“That okay?”
“Yes.”
Then Victor asked:
“What do you think?”
Lily frowned.
“About hotel contract?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sixteen.”
“Accurate.”
“I don’t care.”
Also accurate.
Victor had spent days treating the procurement file as if it carried emotional meaning for Lily.
It did not.
That was useful.
Serena worked somewhere.
Bellandi companies existed somewhere.
The world was large enough for both without every intersection becoming a confrontation.
Two months later Lily attended a friend’s birthday at a venue managed by Arden.
Victor noticed the company name.
Said nothing.
Serena was not there.
Nothing happened.
Lily came home complaining about dry cake.
That was all.
Victor understood something late.
May you like
A boundary did not need the entire world rearranged around it.
Sometimes it only needed the relevant people to follow it.
