Dante heard her.
Clara expected him to intervene.
He did not.
Instead, he stepped back.
That mattered.
He had opened a door, but he was not going to speak through it for her.
Clara looked at her mother.
“I’m not embarrassed.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“For the first time tonight,” Clara continued, “I’m not the one who should be.”
Madison grabbed her champagne glass from a nearby table.
“You think one spreadsheet makes you special?”
“No.”
“You think Romano actually cares about you?”
Clara glanced at Dante and then back at her sister.
“I think he asked me a question and waited for my answer.
That already puts him ahead of everyone standing beside you.”
Madison’s face hardened.
Richard stepped in before she could respond.
“We will solve this privately.
Clara, tomorrow morning we can discuss a title for you.”
Clara almost admired how quickly he could turn desperation into generosity.
An hour earlier she had been permitted inside only as serving staff.
Now she was worth a title.
Dante seemed to read the same thought.
He said nothing.
Clara closed the folder and handed it back.
“What title?” she asked her father.
Richard hesitated.
That hesitation told her everything.
He had not changed.
He was negotiating.
Clara removed the service apron tied around her waist.
She folded it carefully.
Then she placed it on the abandoned tray table beside the broken crystal.
“I don’t want a title you invent because you’re afraid of losing an investor.”
Richard stared at her.
“You have no idea what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying.”
“Without this family, you have nothing.”
Madison smiled at that.
There it was again.
The oldest threat in Clara’s life.
Nobody wants you.
You have nowhere else to go.
You exist because we tolerate you.
Clara looked at Dante.
He did not rescue her with another dramatic declaration.
He simply asked, “Would you like to work?”
Richard’s face changed.
Clara frowned slightly.
Dante continued.
“My organization needs people who notice expensive mistakes before they become expensive disasters.
You appear qualified.”
Richard stepped forward.
“You cannot recruit my daughter in front of me.”
