Part 9
“And the address?”
Daniel looked toward his screen, perhaps checking who was watching.
“I confirmed an address during a call.”
“Why?”
“I believed it would be convenient.”
“For Avery?”
“Yes.”
Elena felt something inside her sink. Even now, he chose the lie that required others to doubt their own hearing.
Miriam Kessler spoke.
“Daniel, you should be aware that this meeting is being recorded under foundation policy.”
His gaze sharpened.
“No one told me.”
A notification had appeared when the call began. Elena had clicked acknowledgment. Daniel had likely clicked it without reading.
Miriam continued. “You may wish to have counsel before making further statements.”
“This is a board meeting, not a deposition.”
“Correct.”
Leonard removed his glasses.
“Perhaps we should focus on immediate governance issues.”
“We should,” Elena said. “Daniel is suspended from all foundation duties pending independent review.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You cannot do that unilaterally.”
“I can suspend an officer. The board can confirm or reverse it.”
Russell spoke for the first time.
“What does this mean for the east-wing project?”
“It remains paused.”
“For how long?”
“Until Greyhaven determines whether the project was used to pressure a foundation employee into disclosing medical information.”
Russell frowned. “The Mercers had no knowledge of that.”
“I did not say you did.”
“But you are allowing the implication to stand.”
Sloane was not on the call.
Elena wondered whether Russell had spoken to his daughter at all or only to lawyers.
Leonard said, “We need a vote.”
They voted.
Four trustees supported Daniel’s suspension. Two opposed. Leonard abstained after arguing for postponement.
Daniel watched the result appear on-screen.
His face did not collapse. He simply leaned back and looked at his mother as though she had confirmed a suspicion he had carried since childhood.
“You wanted this,” he said.
“No.”
“You’ve been waiting to choose her over me publicly.”
Elena felt the old instinct to protect him from humiliation rise again, absurd and loyal.
She let it pass.
“This is not a competition Avery entered.”
Daniel disconnected.
The meeting continued for another hour.
They established an independent review, suspended the Mercer proposal, and authorized counsel to examine whether foundation resources had been used to obtain or redirect Avery’s information.
When the call ended, Elena remained seated.
Nora closed her laptop.
“You did not apologize to Daniel,” she said.
“There was no place to do it without making it transactional.”
“Correct.”
Elena rubbed her eyes.
“Do you think I wanted this?”
“No.”
“He does.”
“Yes.”
“Does that matter?”
“To him.”
The study clock chimed eleven.
Elena stood and walked to the window.
Down near the river path, two groundskeepers were repairing a section of fence damaged by deer. One held the post while the other tamped soil around it. Their work looked simple from a distance.
Nora gathered her papers.
“Sloane is in the morning room,” she said.
Elena turned.
“When did she arrive?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were suspending your son.”
Elena left the study.
Sloane stood beneath Thomas’s portrait, turning her engagement ring between her fingers. She wore trousers, a navy sweater, and no trace of the polished woman from the luncheon.
“I’m sorry to arrive without calling,” she said.
“You are always welcome.”
Sloane looked toward the portrait.
“Am I?”
Elena closed the door.
“That depends on whether you came as Russell Mercer’s representative.”
“I didn’t.”
They sat.
For several seconds, Sloane rolled the ring across her knuckles.
“My father thinks this can still be contained,” she said.
“Contained is an interesting word.”
“He uses it when he means controlled.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Elena waited.
Sloane set the ring on the table between them.
“Daniel told me Avery had threatened to release the report unless Beatrice apologized for calling her unstable.”
Elena felt anger, but also something closer to exhaustion.
“When did he tell you?”
“Two days before the luncheon.”
“Avery made no such threat.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I asked her.”
Elena stared at her.
“When?”
“The morning of the luncheon. I called her.”
Avery had not mentioned it.
“What did she say?”
“She said the report was private and she did not know when it would arrive.”
Sloane twisted her hands together.
“I asked whether it affected Daniel.”
“And?”
“She said no.”
That answer could mean many things. Elena did not pursue them.
Sloane continued. “I should have understood then that he was lying. Instead, I decided there was probably some misunderstanding between them. Daniel said Avery resented the engagement because she thought she would lose her place at Greyhaven.”
Elena’s voice cooled.
“Did you believe that?”
“For an hour.”
“What changed?”
“Avery congratulated me.”
“That convinced you?”
“She asked whether I wanted the foundation’s local florist list because my father was complaining about delivery fees. Jealous people can still be useful, obviously, but she sounded like someone trying to help me plan a wedding.”
A faint, dry smile appeared and faded.
“I didn’t know what to do with the contradiction,” Sloane said. “So I did nothing.”
Elena looked at her.
“You are being very hard on yourself.”
“I watched too.”
“You did not know what Beatrice would do.”
“Once she did it, I froze.”
“Yes.”
“I keep remembering Avery’s hand on that chair.”
Elena did too.
Sloane picked up the ring, then put it down again.
“Daniel says you’ve suspended him.”
“Yes.”
“He says you are trying to destroy him.”
“No.”
“I told him that.”
“How did he respond?”
“He asked whether I was sleeping with someone else.”
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
“I’m sorry.”
“He apologizes when an apology can restore the previous arrangement. I never noticed that before.”
The sentence carried no drama. It sounded like a woman reporting a structural defect after a building inspection.
“Are you ending the engagement?” Elena asked.
Sloane looked at the ring.
“I don’t know.”
Elena almost said she did not have to decide today.
She stopped herself.
Sloane noticed.
“What?”
May you like
“Nothing.”
“You looked as though you swallowed a sentence.”
