Chương 10
“You’re right about one thing,” Alexander said.
Gregory looked surprised.
“I benefited from you.”
His father said nothing.
“I still do.”
Alexander walked to the desk.
“I’m resigning as trustee of the family foundation tomorrow.”
Gregory’s face changed.
“Don’t be stupid.”
“I’m separating Vale Meridian from the family office entirely. Independent audit. Every related-party transaction involving you or Martin for five years.”
“You’ll destroy confidence in the company.”
“Maybe.”
“You’ll cost shareholders billions.”
“Maybe.”
“You cannot burn down everything because one lawyer crossed a line.”
Alexander looked at him.
“You still think this is about Martin.”
Gregory’s eyes narrowed.
Alexander opened the study door.
“You should go.”
His father did not move.
“What about Ava?”
Alexander’s chest tightened.
“What about her?”
“Are you going to give her away?”
“She is not ours to give.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No. It isn’t.”
Gregory walked toward the door.
At the threshold he stopped.
“I loved you.”
Alexander stared at the back of his father’s wet coat.
“Past tense?”
Gregory turned.
For the first time that night, he looked genuinely wounded.
“You know what I mean.”
Alexander did.
That was another problem.
Two weeks later, Martin Voss surrendered through counsel.
The investigation became public.
Not every ugly detail was confirmed at once.
The hospital denied institutional involvement while placing two employees on administrative leave. Tanya Burke’s attorney issued a statement saying she had acted in what she believed were the interests of a vulnerable mother and child. Martin’s attorneys refused comment.
Gregory remained uncharged while prosecutors reviewed financial and electronic records.
Online opinion hardened faster than law.
Some people decided Gregory was a monster.
Others decided Emily was exploiting a wealthy family.
A small but loud group claimed Claire had orchestrated the entire situation to obtain a baby.
Claire deleted every social media account she had.
Emily made the same mistake in the opposite direction.
She read everything.
One afternoon, Alexander found her sitting at their kitchen table while Ava slept upstairs.
She had come for visitation and stayed after Claire took Sophie to the dentist.
Emily stared at her phone.
“You should stop.”
She looked up.
“You sound like Mara.”
“Mara’s right.”
“That must be difficult for her.”
Alexander smiled despite himself.
Emily put the phone down.
“People think I sold her.”
“I know.”
“They think I changed my mind after I saw your house.”
Alexander pulled out a chair.
“People think I ordered Martin to steal her.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“I know.”
He looked at her.
“How?”
Emily shrugged.
“You’re too controlling.”
He almost laughed.
“I’m serious. If you’d done it, there’d be seventeen documents and a calendar invite.”
“That may be the nicest thing anyone has said to me this month.”
“It wasn’t nice.”
“I know.”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“Ava likes it here.”
Alexander said nothing.
Emily’s face tightened.
“I hate that.”
He waited.
“I wanted to walk in and find everything wrong.”
“With us?”
“Yes.”
“Reasonable.”
“I wanted Claire to be cold. Or fake. Or careless.”
“She leaves wet towels on the floor.”
Emily looked at him.
“Monster.”
“Finally, evidence.”
Her smile disappeared.
“I don’t know how to hate her.”
“You don’t have to.”
“That makes it worse.”
Alexander nodded.
He understood.
Emily rubbed the edge of her phone case.
“I had this whole thing in my head.”
“What thing?”
“Finding Ava. Getting her back. Mara kept saying we’d find her. I kept imagining someone opening a door and handing me my baby.”
She laughed softly.
“Stupid.”
“Not stupid.”
“I never imagined she’d know someone else’s voice.”
Alexander looked down.
Emily continued.
“She smiles when Claire talks.”
“Yes.”
“She calms down when you hold her.”
“Sometimes.”
“I’m her mother.”
“Yes.”
“But I’m not the only person she knows.”
“No.”
Emily wiped at one eye angrily.
“I hate all of you.”
Alexander nodded.
“Also reasonable.”
She looked at him.
“I don’t actually.”
“I know.”
“That’s worse too.”
The guardian appointed for Ava recommended a gradual transition plan rather than immediate removal from the Vales’ home.
Emily’s attorney objected.
Mara was furious.
Emily surprised everyone by agreeing.
“I lost three months,” she said during mediation. “I don’t want Ava to lose people because I’m angry.”
Claire cried in the bathroom afterward.
Alexander found her sitting on the closed toilet lid.
“She’s better than me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“She’s making one good decision.”
Claire stared.
“That sounded terrible.”
“I know.”
“She’s making an impossible decision.”
“Yes.”
Claire rubbed her forehead.
“What if the right thing is to give her back completely?”
Alexander leaned against the sink.
“Then we do.”
She looked at him.
The answer hurt both of them.
“What if I can’t?”
“You can.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
“Stop pretending.”
He nodded.
“You might not.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“That’s more honest.”
He sat on the floor beside her.
For a while they said nothing.
A hand dryer in the hallway turned on and off.
Someone flushed a toilet in another stall.
Claire laughed suddenly.
“This is where my life is now.”
“What?”
“Discussing whether I can survive losing my daughter while sitting next to a machine that sells tampons for seventy-five cents.”
Alexander looked at the dispenser.
“Inflation seems reasonable.”
She hit his shoulder.
Then leaned against him.
Three months after the gala, Gregory was indicted.
The charges were narrower than public opinion wanted.
Conspiracy.
Wire fraud.
Obstruction related to attempted destruction of records.
Martin faced additional charges tied to falsified documents.
Tanya Burke entered negotiations with prosecutors and agreed to testify.
The hospital settled separately with Emily without admitting institutional wrongdoing.
No legal result restored the lost months.
No indictment told Ava where she belonged.
The adoption case moved on its own track.
A family court eventually vacated Emily’s relinquishment.
That did not automatically erase Ava’s relationships with Alexander and Claire.
The judge urged the adults to reach an agreement rather than force a binary solution that might serve law better than a child.
For two weeks, negotiations failed.
May you like
Mara wanted full custody returned immediately.
Emily wanted Claire and Alexander involved.
