Chapter 10 - Regina’s Dinner Invitation
Regina Vale did not look like a villain.
That was the first thing Clara noticed.
She looked like the woman people trusted to run hospital boards, museum wings, and charity luncheons. Perfect silver-blond hair. Pearl earrings. Camel coat. Leather gloves. A face arranged into sympathy so practiced it felt expensive.
She stood beside Derek Bennett on the courthouse steps as if the partnership had been staged for cameras.
Victor moved in front of the children immediately.
Regina smiled.
“Victor,” she said. “Still using your body as a wall, I see.”
His voice was deadly calm. “Stay away from my sons.”
“Our sons, in a way,” Regina replied. “They are Evelyn’s blood.”
Mason stiffened.
Clara put one hand lightly on his shoulder.
Regina noticed.
Her eyes moved over Clara in a slow, insulting assessment.
“And you must be Ms. Bennett,” she said. “The miracle worker.”
Clara smiled without warmth. “And you must be the woman who scares children and calls it concern.”
Mrs. Whitaker made a choking sound.
Derek laughed under his breath.
Regina’s smile did not move. “Careful, dear. Anger reads poorly in court.”
“So does trespassing.”
Regina turned to Victor. “Are you going to allow domestic staff to threaten family?”
Victor stepped closer. “She is not threatening you. I am.”
Reporters shouted questions from the sidewalk.
Regina lifted her chin, letting them capture her best angle. “I only want what Evelyn wanted. Safety for her boys.”
Mason shouted, “Don’t say Mom’s name!”
Flashbulbs exploded.
Victor pulled him back, but the damage was done.
Regina looked heartbroken for the cameras.
Clara understood then.
Regina did not need to win every fight.
She only needed the boys to lose control in public.
That evening, the headline wrote itself.
Troubled Hale Child Screams at Aunt Outside Court.
Clara turned off the tablet before the boys saw it.
Victor was in the office with attorneys. Mrs. Whitaker was on the phone with the school. The boys were in the gym demolishing cardboard boxes Clara had labeled “bad headlines,” “fake doctors,” and “Derek’s smug face.”
Lily had drawn the last one.
Clara was in the kitchen washing markers off her hands when Victor entered holding an envelope.
His expression warned her before he spoke.
“What now?” she asked.
“Regina invited us to dinner.”
Clara stared. “Excuse me?”
“Tomorrow evening. Her home. She says she wants to resolve this privately before court proceedings damage the children further.”
“That’s bait.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going.”
“I have to consider it.”
“No, you don’t.”
Victor leaned against the counter. “If I refuse, she tells the court I am isolating the boys and unwilling to cooperate.”
“And if you go?”
“She gets a controlled environment.”
“With cameras?”
“Probably.”
“With people waiting for the boys to react?”
“Definitely.”
Clara dried her hands slowly. “Then we control what we can.”
Victor looked at her. “Meaning?”
“We go.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“You just said—”
“I know what I said.” Clara looked toward the gym where cardboard destruction echoed down the hall. “But not all the boys. Not at first.”
“No.”
“Victor—”
“No. I will not parade them into Regina’s house.”
“Good. Then don’t parade them. Bring one.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Mason.”
Victor pushed away from the counter. “No.”
“He’s the one Regina can trigger most easily because he protects the others. He needs to learn she does not control the room.”
“He is six.”
“Yes. And because everyone keeps deciding what rooms he can survive, he thinks survival is his job.”
Victor stared at her.
Clara softened. “Not alone. You. Me. Mason. Your attorney nearby. Security outside. Recording if legal. Short visit. Clear exit plan.”
Victor ran a hand over his face. “This is insane.”
“No. Insane is letting Regina choose the battlefield every time.”
Mason appeared in the doorway. “I’ll go.”
Victor turned. “No.”
Mason lifted his chin. “She thinks I’m crazy.”
“You do not need to prove anything to her.”
“I know.”
Clara watched him carefully. “Then why go?”
Mason swallowed.
“Because I want to prove it to me.”
That ended the argument.
The next evening, Regina’s mansion in Lake Forest glowed with old money and colder intentions.
Where Victor’s house was grand and wounded, Regina’s was perfect. Too perfect. Every hedge trimmed. Every window lit. Every servant silent. The kind of home where emotions were invited only if they knew which fork to use.
Mason wore a navy sweater and kept his hands in his pockets.
Clara knelt before they entered. “Specific promise?”
He took a breath. “If I feel like yelling, I squeeze your hand. If I feel like throwing something, I ask to leave. If she says Mom’s name wrong, I breathe before I answer.”
Victor’s eyes shone with pride.
He hid it badly.
Regina greeted them in a marble foyer.
“Mason,” she said, arms opening. “My poor darling.”
Mason did not move.
Regina’s smile flickered.
Clara offered her hand. “Good evening.”
Regina looked at it as if Clara had offered a mop.
Then she shook it.
Dinner was served in a room lined with portraits of ancestors who looked like they had invented judgment.
Regina had invited two guests.
Judge Halpern, retired.
And Dr. Mercer.
Victor nearly walked out.
Clara touched Mason’s shoulder once.
Regina smiled. “I thought a neutral professional presence might keep things productive.”
Victor’s voice was cold. “Dr. Mercer is not neutral.”
Dr. Mercer folded his hands. “I understand emotions are high.”
Mason squeezed Clara’s hand so hard it hurt.
She squeezed back once.
You are here.
You are not alone.
The first course was soup.
Mason ate three spoonfuls in rigid silence.
Regina watched him like a cat watching a trapped bird.
“Your mother loved this soup,” she said.
Mason’s spoon stopped.
Victor’s jaw tightened.
Clara looked at Mason.
Breathe.
He did.
Regina leaned closer. “She used to tell me how exhausted she was. Four boys can be so much for one woman.”
Mason’s face reddened.
Clara placed her napkin on the table. “Regina, grief is not seasoning. Stop sprinkling it on dinner.”
The retired judge coughed into his wine.
Victor’s mouth twitched.
Regina’s eyes flashed.
Dr. Mercer said, “Ms. Bennett, perhaps allow family members to speak.”
Clara looked at him. “Perhaps stop using credentials as camouflage.”
Mason made a tiny sound.
Not fear.
A laugh.
Regina heard it and changed tactics.
She stood. “Mason, darling, would you like to see something of your mother’s?”
Victor stood too. “No.”
Regina ignored him and rang a small bell.
A maid entered carrying a white box.
Mason’s breathing quickened.
Regina opened the box and lifted a pale blue scarf.
“She wore this the week before she died,” Regina said softly. “She cried in my arms that day.”
Mason whispered, “Stop.”
Regina stepped closer. “She worried about you most.”
“Stop,” Mason said louder.
Dr. Mercer watched carefully.
Victor moved, but Clara held up one hand.
Mason’s hand found hers.
He squeezed.
He breathed.
Then he said, trembling but clear, “My mom said I protect.”
Regina froze.
“She didn’t say I was bad. She didn’t say I made her tired. She said I protect. But Clara says I’m not supposed to protect everyone alone.”
Clara’s eyes burned.
Mason turned to Dr. Mercer.
“And you lied.”
The room went still.
Dr. Mercer’s smile vanished. “Mason—”
“You put me in the white room and said bad boys make mothers leave.”
Retired Judge Halpern lowered his glass.
Regina’s face hardened. “This is inappropriate.”
Mason stood on his chair.
Victor started forward.
Clara whispered, “Let him.”
Mason’s voice shook, but he kept going.
“My mother died because someone scared her. Not because of me. Not because of Cole. Not Ryder. Not Theo. And if you say it again, I won’t throw soup.”
He looked at Clara.
“I’ll tell the truth.”
Silence.
Then Judge Halpern turned slowly to Dr. Mercer.
“Doctor,” he said, “did you conduct isolated grief interviews with a five-year-old child?”
Dr. Mercer’s face went pale.
Regina snapped, “This dinner is over.”
Clara stood, lifted Mason down, and straightened his sweater.
“No,” she said. “I think this dinner just became useful.”
Victor took Mason’s coat.
They walked out before dessert.
But not before Clara saw Regina’s perfect mask crack.
In the car, Mason sat between Clara and Victor.
He looked exhausted.
Victor said quietly, “I am proud of you.”
Mason did not answer.
Then, after a long moment, he leaned against his father.
Victor stopped breathing.
Clara looked out the window and smiled.
At the Hale estate, Cole, Ryder, Theo, and Lily waited in the foyer.
Mason walked in.
Cole asked, “Did you throw soup?”
Mason shook his head.
Ryder looked disappointed. “No?”
Mason lifted his chin.
“I did worse,” he said. “I told the truth.”
The boys stared.
Then Cole whispered, “Cool.”
For one night, the house slept easier.
But across town, Regina stood in her dining room beside the untouched dessert, breathing hard.
Dr. Mercer said, “The boy is becoming harder to control.”
Regina turned on him.
“Then we stop trying to control the boy,” she said.
May you like
Her eyes moved to the newspaper photo of Clara.
“We remove the nanny.”
