Chapter 12
The independent review of Elise’s archive produced exactly what the Knox family had feared.
Not catastrophe.
Consequences.
Several old business practices could no longer continue.
One property company paid a regulatory settlement over disclosure failures.
Two executives were removed after investigators found undisclosed relationships with contractors.
A tax issue inherited from Thayer’s father required millions in corrected payments and penalties.
One lender withdrew from a major hotel project.
The deal collapsed.
Thayer lost money.
Real money.
He did not blame Corinne for everything.
The records existed before she entered the room.
She did not create old problems by finding them.
That distinction infuriated Vincent.
“You’re defending her now?”
“No.”
“Sounds like it.”
Thayer looked at him.
“She stole records.”
“Yes.”
“She tried to use them against me.”
“Yes.”
“She didn’t make my father sign bad contracts twenty years ago.”
Vincent had no answer.
That was another change.
Thayer refused to use an antagonist as an excuse to keep lying about his own family.
Meanwhile, Poppy returned to the mansion gradually.
She initially refused family dinners.
Thayer canceled them.
Not forever.
For now.
Dr. Marsh told him:
“Don’t make the entire house orbit her fear.”
“I thought I was supposed to protect her.”
“You are.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Protection creates safety. Fear-based accommodation teaches her the danger still runs the house.”
Thayer hated therapeutic sentences because they usually required patience.
He followed the advice anyway.
The first dinner back was four people.
Thayer.
Poppy.
Nora.
Miriam, who complained that she was technically billing nobody to eat pasta.
The coatroom door remained open.
Poppy checked twice.
Thayer noticed.
He did not comment.
May you like
By dessert she stopped looking at it.
That mattered more than any court filing.
