CHAPTER 3: Isadora Takes the Floor

Isadora crossed the marble slowly because she knew cameras loved restraint.
Her smile stayed in place for the donors, the board members, and the society photographer who had raised his camera without realizing he was about to capture the wrong kind of history. She stopped three feet from Mira, close enough to show ownership and far enough to avoid looking cruel.
"He is overtired," Isadora announced. "Children attach themselves to staff when boundaries are not respected."
Mira lowered her eyes, not from shame but from training. Staff did not correct patrons. Staff did not contradict wives. Staff did not remind billionaires that children learned the truth before adults found language for it.
Leo whispered, "Don't make me go back."
Only Mira heard it clearly, but her face changed. Isadora saw the change and understood that the server might choose the child over the paycheck.
"Put him down, Miss Lane."
Mira looked up then.
"No, ma'am. Not while he is asking me not to."
The room inhaled as one body.