Marcus considered the question.
"I don't know yet."
The answer was honest.
Daniel appreciated that.
For the first time, he was learning that protecting a family legacy required more than issuing orders.
It required understanding what could actually be protected.
Claire Beaumont spent the first week after the celebration in an apartment with the curtains closed.
Her phone rang constantly.
Reporters.
Former clients.
Friends.
Strangers.
A woman from a professional association asking whether she wished to resign from a committee.
A corporate customer requesting clarification about its existing contract.
And several messages from people who had watched the video and decided her entire life could be summarized in a few cruel sentences.
Claire had lied.
Deliberately.
Repeatedly.
She had accepted money to manipulate someone who trusted her.
Those facts were undeniable.
But the public attention was brutal.
Some messages threatened violence.
Others targeted her parents.
One person posted the address of the printing business her father still struggled to maintain.
Claire contacted an attorney about the harassment and her possible legal responsibilities.
Then she began cooperating with the appropriate independent investigators.
Her lawyer advised her to preserve messages, payment records, contracts, and communications.
She complied.
Not because she expected cooperation to erase the wrongdoing.
Because she had finally understood that continuing to hide would only produce more damage.
One evening, she sat at her kitchen table holding a letter she had written to Daniel.
She had revised it seven times.
Every version began with an apology.
Every version sounded inadequate.
Finally, she stopped trying to explain herself in a way that would make her look sympathetic.
She wrote the truth.
I accepted money because I was afraid of losing the financial security I thought the arrangement offered.
Your mother suggested the lie, but I agreed to it.
I allowed you to imagine a child who did not exist.
I watched Sophie struggle with a situation I knew was false.
I became angry when she noticed the straps because I was frightened of being exposed.
I shoved Mara. She had done nothing to deserve that.
I am responsible for those choices.
Claire stared at the page.
Then continued.
I don't expect forgiveness. I will cooperate in establishing what happened and address the money I received through the appropriate process.
She signed it.
Then placed it in an envelope.
For several minutes, she sat quietly.
Finally, she called her attorney and asked how to send it without pressuring Daniel to respond.
The lawyer suggested routing it through counsel.
Claire agreed.
It was a small decision.
But for the first time in months, she was choosing a truthful action without expecting it to rescue her reputation.
When Daniel received the letter, he read it alone.
He sat in his study after Sophie had returned to Mara's house.
The room was quiet.
He opened the envelope.
Read the first paragraph.