Chương 10
“I disagree with you constantly.”
“You hide it.”
“I’m trying not to make every interaction a custody negotiation.”
“That sounds healthy and annoying.”
“It’s mostly annoying.”
Sophie came running out of the house wearing one sneaker.
“Other shoe,” Victoria said.
“I can’t find it.”
“It was by the door.”
“It moved.”
“Shoes rarely migrate.”
Alexander said, “Franklin takes socks.”
Sophie pointed at him.
“See?”
They found the sneaker beneath the sofa.
Franklin was innocent.
Alexander looked offended on the dog’s behalf.
Those small afternoons became dangerous to Victoria.
Not because Alexander did anything wrong.
Because sometimes he was easy to be around.
She had prepared herself for a villain or a victim.
He was neither.
He was the man who had loved her badly, believed a lie too easily, failed to keep looking, and now showed up ten minutes early with sunscreen, emergency snacks, and no idea how much children hated emergency snacks.
Sophie began calling him Dad consistently in the third month.
The first time she did it in front of Victoria, Alexander dropped a spoon.
They were at a diner after a therapy session.
Sophie said, “Dad, can I have fries?”
The spoon hit the table.
Sophie looked at it.
“You okay?”
Alexander cleared his throat.
“Yes.”
“Fries?”
“Yes.”
Victoria stared at the menu.
Alexander did not look at her.
Neither mentioned it until later.
In the parking lot, Sophie was buckled into Victoria’s car.
Alexander closed the rear door gently.
Then he stood beside Victoria.
“She called me—”
“I heard.”
He nodded.
His eyes were wet.
Victoria looked away.
“Don’t make it heavy for her.”
“I won’t.”
“She may stop.”
“I know.”
“She may get angry at you.”
“I know.”
“She may call you Alexander tomorrow.”
“I know.”
Victoria finally looked at him.
“You can be happy.”
His mouth tightened.
“I am.”
She nodded.
Then he said, “I’m also terrified.”
“Good.”
He laughed softly.
“That sounded like you.”
“I am still me.”
“I know.”
The sentence carried too much.
Victoria opened the driver’s door.
Alexander stepped back.
Margaret filed a civil claim against Victoria in the fourth month after the cruise.
Not a large one.
That somehow made it worse.
The claim alleged battery and emotional damages from the public assault.
Daniel read the papers at Victoria’s kitchen table.
“She has video.”
“I know.”
“She has witnesses.”
“I know.”
“She also has a legitimate claim that you struck her.”
“I know.”
Victoria was tired of knowing.
“What does she want?”
“Publicly? Accountability.”
“Privately?”
Daniel slid a letter across the table.
The proposed settlement included a mutual confidentiality agreement covering the cruise confrontation, the disputed farewell letter, internal family communications, and allegations regarding intercepted messages.
Victoria read it twice.
“She wants the letter buried.”
“Yes.”
“If I sign, I can’t discuss what she did.”
“Correct.”
“Can Alexander?”
“His obligations would be separate.”
“What does she want from him?”
“I don’t know.”
Victoria laughed without humor.
“She’s trying to turn my slap into leverage.”
“Yes.”
“Will it work?”
Daniel leaned back.
“That depends on how much you want this fight.”
Victoria looked toward the living room.
Sophie was on the floor drawing while Franklin slept beside her.
Alexander had brought the dog over and gone to pick up food.
Three months earlier, Victoria would not have allowed him inside the house without her present.
Now his shoes were by the door.
That fact frightened her more than the lawsuit.
“What could this cost?”
“Money. Time. Privacy. Stress. Possibly more publicity.”
“And if I settle?”
“Less of those things.”
“And silence.”
“Yes.”
Victoria folded the proposal.
“What would you do?”
“I’m your lawyer. I’ll advise on risk.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Daniel sighed.
“I would not decide while angry.”
“So tomorrow.”
“That was not funny.”
“It was a little funny.”
Daniel smiled despite himself.
“Do not tell Naomi I encouraged you.”
Alexander returned carrying Thai food.
He stopped when he saw Daniel.
“What happened?”
Victoria held up the settlement letter.
“Your mother sued me.”
His expression changed.
He put the food down.
“She said she wouldn’t.”
Victoria laughed.
“That must be difficult for you. Finding out she lies.”
Alexander accepted the hit.
Daniel stood.
“I’m leaving before this becomes billable in several directions.”
After he left, Sophie complained that the noodles were too spicy.
Alexander made her a peanut-butter sandwich.
Victoria sat at the kitchen table with Margaret’s settlement proposal.
He did not ask to see it.
That restraint eventually annoyed her enough that she pushed it toward him.
“Read.”
He did.
His jaw tightened at the confidentiality language.
“She’s offering to dismiss if you sign this?”
“And money changes hands.”
“How much?”
“Not important.”
“It’s my mother.”
“It’s my lawsuit.”
He looked up.
“Fair.”
Victoria waited.
“What?”
“I’m trying to decide whether saying what I think violates one of the fifteen rules you’ve given me.”
“There are twelve.”
“There are more than twelve.”
“What do you think?”
“That she is terrified the internal findings will become public.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s already losing foundation support.”
“That matters to her?”
“More than money.”
Victoria leaned back.
Alexander continued, “My mother has spent thirty years being the person who enters a room and decides what respectable behavior looks like. She can survive people thinking she is cruel. She cannot survive people thinking she is fraudulent.”
“That sounds almost sympathetic.”
“It isn’t.”
He folded the proposal.
“She built her identity around being necessary.”
Victoria looked at him.
Alexander stared at the paper.
“When my father got sick, everybody told her she was the reason the family held together. They told her that for years. I told her that.”
“You were grateful.”
“I was dependent.”
“Those aren’t opposites.”
“No.”
Sophie appeared in the doorway with peanut butter on her sleeve.
“Can Franklin sleep over?”
“No,” Victoria and Alexander said simultaneously.
Sophie frowned.
“You agree too much.”
Alexander laughed.
Victoria did too.
Then she saw the settlement proposal between them and stopped.
May you like
Margaret had taken years from this room.
Victoria would not give her control over what happened next.
