Chapter 6 - THE COST OF KNOWING WHY
Learning Griffin had been abused by Osric did not make Claire want to go home.
It made staying away harder emotionally.
Griffin called Tuesday night.
Claire answered for the first time since the meeting at Adam’s office.
“Mara told you.”
“Some of it.”
Griffin was silent.
“Did he hit you in April?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you lie to me?”
“Because I was embarrassed.”
“So was I Friday.”
Griffin’s breathing changed.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Claire, I became exactly what I spent my life hating for about five seconds.”
She closed her eyes.
“No. You became him before the five seconds. The five seconds were when I got to see it.”
Griffin had no answer.
He asked whether Claire intended to tell shareholders.
That question ended whatever softness had entered the conversation.
“You still think that’s the emergency.”
“I have twelve hundred employees.”
“You have a wife too.”
“I know.”
“Apparently not.”
She ended the call.
The family split quickly after that.
Osric accused Mara of manipulating Claire to seize control of the company.
Griffin accused Mara of violating his privacy.
Mara accused Griffin of becoming their father.
Claire’s name appeared in every argument despite her absence.
Margaret Whitfield requested a private meeting with Griffin and Mara before the delayed refinancing vote.
The company’s independent directors also asked why family tension had suddenly begun affecting governance decisions.
Mara could either keep protecting the archive or admit it existed.
She refused to decide.
That surprised Claire.
The calculating Mara who had moved recordings, hidden access credentials, and watched Friday’s assault without intervening suddenly seemed terrified of taking the final step.
“You spent seven months collecting proof,” Claire told her.
“Proof of what?”
“You tell me.”
Mara looked away.
“Maybe I thought having it would be enough.”
Claire understood the feeling too well.
Evidence could become another form of avoidance.
Something you accumulated so you didn’t have to choose.
By Wednesday night, Claire no longer trusted Mara to make that choice for her.
She asked the security provider for everything she was legally entitled to obtain from the account she had originally opened.
The answer introduced a new problem.
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Mara had not copied only violent incidents.
She had copied nearly every hallway recording made before major Caldwell board meetings for seven months.
