In short, he was cut off from everything: stores, restaurants, cafés. That meant he had to survive off of Juliana’s showgirl diet. Bastien pinched the bridge of his nose, ready to leave. “I should have known you would be this vindictive.”
“I am merely teaching you a lesson, Bastien. Even a savage wolf can be domesticated if you tinker with its habitat and render it desperate.”
Afterwards, Monsieur Ménard went on uttering something about his annual soirée, but Bastien had zoned out. All he could focus on was the fact that his grandfather had switched the order of his agonising speeches. It was a stupid thought to cling to, but he would rather contemplate that one, than think about thefact that his name had been wiped off clean like chalk on the sidewalk after rain.
Surely, there had to be something more he could say, something for him to pick at and argue his case. Unfortunately for Bastien, even the quicksilver remarks were inclined to abandon him at times of distress. His head was empty, save for the wordsI am merely teaching you a lessonthat bounced off the walls of his mind, circling each other until they became a jumble of letters that didn’t make sense anymore.
A lesson. Disowned. Not a Ménard anymore.
Slowly, he turned on his heel, and was out the door before his grandfather could call him back inside the office.
He needed a strong drink; or whatever was the right amount to drown in.
Nodding a swift goodbye at Agnes, he began descending the stairs, when another door cracked open at the end of the corridor.
Anaïs poked her blonde head out. “Bas? Why didn’t you say you were coming?”
He didn’t reply. Maybe Anaïs hadn’t told anyone about his whereabouts, maybe she had. It didn’t quite matter at the moment. Bastien simply didn’t want to talk to anyone, least of all his little sister.
Seeing that he was about to leave, she pattered towards him quickly.
“Get out of my way,” Bastien said, shoving past her when she blocked his next step on the staircase.
But there was no dissuading Anaïs. Her fingers latched onto his shirtsleeve. “Don’t leave like this. Without saying goodbye.”
“Fine, goodbye,” Bastien snapped, wrenching his arm free. “Now get out of my way.”
She planted her hands on her hips, pouting at him. “You can’t order me around.”
“Move or I’ll push you down, Anaïs.”
“I thought you had more respect for her,” Jacques chimed in from the landing. “Considering what you think of the rest of us.”
Bastien clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides. His lips parted to let out a dry chuckle. “You don’t want to be in front of me right now either.”
Jacques’s expression shifted to complacence. “I’m guessing Grandfather introduced you to Benjamin.”
That’s all it took for Bastien to reach the landing before Anaïs could stop him, and before Jacques could register what was happening.
The rings on Bastien’s fingers cut a thin line across Jacques’s mouth, knocking him off balance. He staggered back, nearly colliding with two delivery boys. One of them rushed to his aid—Jacques shook him off.
“You know what?” he rasped. He looked up, and to Bastien’s surprise, there was nothing but amusement in his expression. And a trickle of blood. Jacques wiped it off, smearing it across his lips.“I hope it bruises. I hope that when Grandfather sees, he will call Benjamin again and make his decision permanent. And when Celine sees, she will know immediately who to blame.”
“You two arewretched,” Anaïs shouted suddenly, causing both of her brothers to pivot and look at her. She appeared visibly hurt, as if the blow Bastien had dealt Jacques had ricocheted onto her.
The commotion around the house had stilled. It seemed the staff, too, was waiting in awkward silence for the next blow.
“Anaïs—” Jacques called when she started going up the stairs again.
“No!” She halted, fingers curled on the railing. “No—you two won’t stop until you make everyone else miserable, will you?You cannot just get along. Hell, you can’t evenpretendto get along, can you?”
At least for my sake, she left unsaid, but they could all feel her words lingering in the air.
Bastien tensed. “Anaïs—” he tried again.
She only shook her head. “I thought things would change once you two grew older. That we would finally be the happy family that Grandfather praises.”
“Maybeyouneed to grow up, Anaïs,” Jacques said in a tone Bastien had never heard him use with their sister. “You like to remind us you’re only a year younger, but you still live in the delusions of your childhood.”
