Chapter 12 - THE WEDDING IS SIX WEEKS AWAY
The wedding planner called Dominic fourteen times.
He answered on the fifteenth.
“Cancel vendors.”
A pause.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“Postpone?”
“Yes.”
“New date?”
“No.”
By noon, Savannah? No. Chicago society began whispering.
The Rinaldi wedding was delayed.
No explanation.
Bianca’s mother called.
Her friends called.
A fashion editor texted.
The humiliation Bianca had feared privately became public.
She blamed Talia.
Of course.
“You’re letting a nanny destroy us.”
Dominic stood at the library window.
“No.”
“She accused me.”
“No.”
“She documented me.”
“Yes.”
“She went to the agency.”
“After you accused her.”
Bianca’s eyes flashed.
“You are taking her side.”
Dominic turned.
“I am trying to determine which woman lied to me.”
The sentence silenced her.
Not which woman is better.
Not fiancée or nanny.
Which lied.
Bianca recovered.
“Talia.”
“Maybe.”
“You still say maybe.”
“Yes.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Tell the truth.”
“I am.”
“Then the evidence will support you.”
Bianca looked away.
Dominic saw fear.
Later that day, Bianca hired her own attorney.
That was reasonable.
Dominic did not interpret it as guilt.
But her attorney’s first letter was revealing.
It demanded Talia cease “defamatory characterization” of Bianca’s relationship with Luca and preserve all communications.
Talia’s legal aid attorney, Melissa Grant, responded:
Ms. Monroe has made no public statements regarding Ms. Rinaldi.
Then Melissa asked Talia:
“Have you?”
“No.”
“Social media?”
“No.”
“Friends?”
“One. Without names.”
“Good.”
“Bianca is the one calling families.”
“Can we prove?”
“Not yet.”
Melissa smiled.
“Then we don't say it yet.”
Evidence.
Again.
Talia was learning how different professional truth was from emotional truth.
You could know something.
Still have to prove who could responsibly repeat it.
Meanwhile, Dominic’s estate lawyer, Serena Conti, uncovered more of Bianca’s questions.
Not illegal.
Not even necessarily sinister.
But specific.
How would Luca’s trust operate if Dominic died before age eighteen?
Could a spouse serve as trust protector?
Could a guardian replace household staff?
Would a caregiver ever gain standing based on psychological parent theories?
Conti explained:
“In Illinois, someone can try almost anything. That does not mean a nanny automatically gets parental rights.”
“Did Bianca seem worried Talia would take Luca?”
“She never named Talia.”
“Who did she name?”
“No one.”
Then Conti found an earlier draft email in the file.
It had been saved but never sent.
Bianca wrote:
I don’t want an employee becoming indispensable enough that she can influence Luca against me later.
Dominic stared.
“Why do you have this?”
“She drafted it in our client portal and deleted it.”
“Recovered?”
“Routine retention.”
Dominic felt cold.
Bianca had been thinking about Talia as an adversary months before the living room incident.
He did not confront her yet.
Instead, he asked Martin:
“Who recommended Talia?”
“The agency.”
“Who approved?”
“You.”
“Why her?”
Martin smiled faintly.
“She told you she wouldn’t promise permanence.”
Dominic remembered.
“Anything else?”
“She had the strongest infant-care references.”
“And Bianca?”
“She disliked the hire.”
“From the beginning?”
“Not initially.”
“When?”
Martin thought.
“After Luca started reaching for Talia.”
Dominic looked away.
There it was.
Not proof.
But chronology.
At dinner, Bianca tried one last time to restore normalcy.
Candles.
Wine.
The chef made Dominic’s favorite veal dish.
He barely touched it.
“Do you still love me?” she asked.
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
The answer surprised both.
Bianca’s eyes filled.
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because love is not evidence.”
She flinched.
Dominic continued:
“And because if I marry you while I don’t trust your account of what happened to my son, then I’m not marrying you.”
“What are you doing?”
“Escaping a decision.”
He stood.
“I don't do that anymore.”
Bianca watched him leave.
She finally understood the wedding was not threatened by Talia.
It was threatened by Dominic learning to separate loyalty from proof.
May you like
That was a skill Bianca had depended on him never developing.
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