Chapter 14 - The Deal That Would Have Made Everything Easier
Helena’s proposal would have solved the immediate problem.
That was why it was tempting.
She would resign.
Wrenfield would remain in the trust.
A professional trustee could take over.
The court fight could shrink from a public dispute into private paperwork.
Marcus could avoid having some of his worst decisions examined in detail.
Vittorio could stop spending every morning with lawyers.
Even Mara admitted settlement deserved consideration.
“Litigation has costs,” she said. “Financial and emotional.”
Marcus sat beside Vittorio in the same conference room where Helena had refused to suspend herself days earlier.
“What happens if we accept?”
Mara answered precisely.
“Helena resigns. The historical accounting becomes limited. Her prior reimbursements largely remain where they are unless something separate emerges. She receives scheduled access to Elsie.”
“No,” Marcus said.
Vittorio turned toward him.
Marcus shook his head.
“She can ask for contact later. After Elsie has had time. After somebody evaluates what’s healthy.”
“That may mean Helena refuses the deal.”
“Then she refuses.”
Vittorio studied his son.
A week earlier, Marcus had watched Helena frighten his daughter because he was terrified of losing money.
Now he was choosing a more expensive path specifically because the easier one demanded access to Elsie.
Mara looked at Vittorio.
“And you?”
Vittorio considered the question.
Part of him wanted Helena publicly humiliated.
He wanted every reimbursement printed on paper.
Every message read aloud.
Every guest from the birthday party to know what she had done.
Then he imagined Elsie at fifteen finding her name attached to years of court filings people had circulated for entertainment.
Revenge could become another adult taking something from her.
“We don’t hide the financial record,” Vittorio said. “But we don’t turn Elsie into a public weapon either.”
Mara nodded.
“So no confidentiality about the trust accounting itself, but no unnecessary publication beyond the proceeding.”
“Yes.”
Marcus agreed.
They sent the counteroffer.
Helena could resign.
An independent accounting would continue.
No guaranteed access to Elsie.
Future contact would depend on Elsie’s welfare and appropriate professional guidance.
Helena rejected it within twenty minutes.
Her message was short.
I will not be treated like a criminal in my own family.
Vittorio looked at the sentence.
Then he gave the phone back to Mara.
“File.”
Marcus added, “And include my affidavit exactly as written.”
Mara studied him.
“You understand opposing counsel will use it against you.”
“I wrote what happened.”
That afternoon, Marcus did one more thing.
He gave Vittorio the key to his house.
Not because Vittorio had demanded it.
Because Helena still had another key, and Marcus had decided not to return there until the locks were changed and her belongings were separated from his.
“I’ll get a hotel.”
“You can stay with me.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No. Not yet.”
Vittorio understood.
His son needed to discover whether he could stand without attaching himself immediately to another rescuer.
Before leaving, Marcus went upstairs.
Elsie was coloring at a small desk.
He stopped several feet away.
“Can I say goodnight?”
Elsie looked at Vittorio first.
Then back at Marcus.
“From there.”
Marcus stayed where she had told him.
“Goodnight, peanut.”
Elsie returned to her coloring.
Marcus’s face tightened.
But he did not ask for a hug.
He did not tell her she was hurting his feelings.
He simply said, “I’ll see you Saturday.”
Then he left.
May you like
The next morning, Mara filed the petition.
At that point, none of them could quietly put the birthday back together and pretend the crown had never fallen.
