Monsieur Ménard shot him a sharp glance. “What I wanted to offer your mother was an idle life with everything provided for. She chose to have her own business instead.”
Looking away, Bastien wrinkled his nose. He couldn’t stand to meet his grandfather’s eye when they talked about Adalene.
“But since we’re on that matter,” Monsieur Ménard said abruptly. “You might want to look into selling that old studio she had. Easy money. Quick way to pay me back and return here.”
Bastien remained silent for a long while. Not because the suggestion had shocked him, no. His grandfather had asked him to sell that studio numerous times before. But he didn’t want to say the wrong thing out of anger, though he doubted his situation could get any worse.
Unfortunately, the silence didn’t do much.
“I’d rather sleep on the street than sell that place,” he gritted. The studio held all the memories of Adalene Reneau—everything his mother had owned that had been thrown out of the mansion. “I cannot imagine why she wanted to be part of your family. I, for one, wouldn’t.”
“Good to hear we see eye to eye on this matter, Bastien,” his grandfather replied calmly. “Because you are not anymore.”
The room descended into absolute quiet. For a split second, Bastien felt like someone had swiped the carpet from under his feet and he was tumbling, tumbling, tumbling down into an abyss.
“I beg your pardon?” he whispered, stupefied.
“That man who just left my office was our attorney. He is temporarily removing you from the family tree until you get your act together and stop frolicking, when I specifically warned you to replenish your accounts.”
“Iamdoing just that!”
“How? By strolling around Rue Cambon every day?”
Bastien was going to murder his brother. He was actually going to kill Jacques and bury him six feet under.
“Jacques doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he snapped defensively. “I told him I was there for a reason.”
“It wasn’t Jacques who told me.”
Bastien’s eyes narrowed. “You’re having me followed?”
He wouldn’t be surprised if it were true. It had happened once before, when he was younger and imagined he could get away with anything.
“I’ve given you plenty of chances before, Bastien. I needed to see if you were going to take it more seriously this time. It appears not.”
“So what, you’re cutting off your own blood now?”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to be part of this family.”
Silence filled the office, choking Bastien with its presence. Only his incredulous breaths could be heard.
“If you wanted to find anything, you should’ve found a better informant,” he replied drily. “Someone who’s not blind. I wasn’t there for fun.”
“By all means then”—his grandfather laced his fingers together and planted them on the desk, waiting—“explain.”
Bastien parted his lips, ready to argue, “I—”
But he couldn’t. Not without breaking his promise to Celine. Not without disclosing she was participating in the competition and sabotaging both of their chances to win.
He wasn’t seriously considering being wiped off the family tree just to keep a secret, was he? It wasn’t as though Celine had murdered someone and needed him to keep quiet or risk being dragged into the mess. It was only a fashion contest. And yet…
And yet, he wouldn’t tell. They had made it through four rounds already. Celine’s designs kept getting better and better, and Bastien refused to erase all that effort by uttering a single confession. Plus, he was benefitting from her too, even if everyone else and their mothers thought he was simply frolicking around.
He couldn’t believe what he was about to do.
“You’ll just have to trust me,” Bastien insisted. “Iwillpay you back.”
“Well, if that’s true, you have nothing to worry about, hmm? It is only a temporary removal, anyway. Benjamin will add your name again once you show me the fruits of your…endeavours.” His grandfather leaned back on his chair. “I’m sure you understand that means you cannot use the Ménard last name either, nor claim the benefits it comes with. When I said you don’t have access to your accounts, that included the tabs our family has around the city.”
