Part 2: The Dinner Test
Dinner began at six.
War began at six-oh-one.
The quadruplets attacked with military precision.
Forks disappeared.
Water glasses tipped over.
Mashed potatoes became ammunition.
Every nanny before Serena had quit before dessert.
The boys knew exactly how to break people.
But Serena wasn't reacting.
When one boy hid her chair, she ate standing up.
When another dumped peas into her lap, she calmly asked for more.
When two brothers started screaming at the same time, she began singing loudly over them.
The boys exchanged confused looks.
This wasn't how the game worked.
Adults were supposed to yell.
Or cry.
Or leave.
Serena did none of those things.
Halfway through dinner, the silent boy suddenly spoke.
“What happens if we make you quit?”
The room froze.
It was the first time Victor had heard him speak in nearly a month.
Serena looked directly at him.
“I don't quit.”
“Everybody quits.”
“Not everybody.”
“Mom quit.”
The words landed like a bomb.
Victor's grip tightened around his fork.
The other boys immediately fell silent.
Serena's heart broke.
Now she understood.
This wasn't about bad behavior.
It was grief.
The boys weren't trying to get rid of nannies.
They were testing them.
Pushing them.
Waiting for everyone else to leave just like their mother had.
Even if she hadn't chosen to.
That night, after the boys were asleep, Victor found Serena cleaning the kitchen.
“You figured it out.”
“They miss her.”
His eyes darkened.
“They blame me.”
“Do they?”
Victor didn't answer.
For a moment, the most powerful man in New York looked like the loneliest.
Then Serena noticed something.
A photograph partially hidden beneath a stack of papers.
The boys with their mother.
And behind the picture...
A legal document.
One with Serena's own name printed on it.
Her blood ran cold.
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To Be Continued...
