Chapter 19 - Grant’s FailureGrant began therapy reluctantly.
Sadie approved.
“I think you need it.”
“Thank you for your professional opinion.”
“You’re welcome.”
His therapist, Dr. Aaron Mills, did not allow Grant to turn every session into analysis of Corinne.
“What did you do?” Aaron asked during the third session.
Grant’s expression hardened.
“I didn’t push Sadie.”
“I didn’t ask what Corinne did.”
Grant sat back.
Aaron continued.
“What did you do in the family before Granite Crown?”
“I worked.”
“A lot?”
“Yes.”
“You remarried.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted stability.”
“Yes.”
“And when Sadie expressed discomfort?”
Grant looked away.
“I explained Corinne.”
“Instead of?”
“Listening to Sadie.”
Aaron waited.
Grant became irritated.
“You’re making it sound like I caused this.”
“No.”
“Then what are we doing?”
“Separating responsibility from accountability.”
Grant frowned.
Aaron explained.
“Corinne is responsible for choosing violence. Reid is responsible for conspiracy. You are accountable for the ways you ignored your daughter before the violence.”
Grant went silent.
“You can change accountability,” Aaron said. “You cannot change their responsibility.”
It was uncomfortable.
Which meant it was useful.
Grant stopped apologizing to Sadie every day.
Instead he changed behavior.
When she said she did not want to attend a family gathering where reporters might appear, he canceled.
When she asked him to stay outside during one therapy session, he stayed outside.
When she told him she hated the new security guard following her around the grocery store, Grant asked police for a less visible arrangement instead of telling Sadie security was necessary.
Small choices.
But all involved something Grant had historically struggled to give her.
Control.
Not absolute control over the world.
Control over herself.
Months passed.
Snow came to Colorado.
Sadie returned to school.
The first day, Grant offered to walk her inside.
“No.”
“Okay.”
“Wait in the car.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t leave until I get through the door.”
“Okay.”
She made it twelve steps before turning around.
Grant waved.
She waved back.
Then entered.
He cried in the parking lot.
He did not tell her.
Mercer Ridge stabilized under interim CEO Helen Park.
The forensic audit resulted in new controls.
Two senior managers resigned.
Three employees were cleared after intense review.
The company recovered some stolen funds through frozen accounts and insurance, but millions remained lost.
Grant personally covered several employee retirement-plan shortfalls associated with Reid’s fraud even though his attorneys advised him he was not legally required to.
Mara asked why.
“Because they trusted my company.”
“That could cost you millions.”
“I know.”
“Your personal wealth isn’t infinite.”
“I know.”
She studied him.
“You’ve changed.”
Grant shook his head.
“I’m trying to.”
Corinne’s sentencing hearing was scheduled for January.
She faced decades in prison.
Her plea required truthful cooperation.
Before sentencing, her attorney requested permission for Corinne to write Sadie a letter.
Grant’s immediate reaction was no.
Then he asked Sadie.
“You don’t have to read anything.”
“Did she write it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what it says?”
“No.”
Sadie thought.
“I want Evelyn to read it.”
Grant respected that.
Evelyn read the letter privately.
Then told Sadie:
“She says she is sorry.”
Sadie’s face did not move.
“She also explains some of her own childhood and says she became obsessed with money and control.”
“Does she blame Reid?”
“Partly.”
Sadie looked at Grant.
“Do I have to forgive her?”
“No.”
“Does she ask me to?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Yes.”
Sadie’s face hardened.
“Then I don’t want it.”
Evelyn nodded.
The letter was sealed again.
Sadie never read it.
Grant worried that refusing forgiveness might keep her trapped in anger.
Evelyn corrected him.
“Forgiveness is not a treatment requirement.”
Grant smiled.
“You keep ruining every inspirational speech I was planning.”
“That’s part of my job.”
The night before Corinne’s sentencing, Sadie had a nightmare.
Grant found her sitting beside the bedroom window.
“I was back there.”
He sat beside her.
“On the cliff?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She pushed me.”
Sadie looked at him.
“But in the dream, the parachute wasn’t there.”
Grant’s chest tightened.
“I just kept falling.”
He waited.
Sadie whispered, “Then Mom’s voice said I could step back.”
Grant knew which mother she meant.
Dana.
“What did you do?”
“I woke up.”
Sadie looked outside.
“I think I want to go back someday.”
Grant froze.
“To Granite Crown?”
“Not now.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe when I’m older.”
“Okay.”
She studied him.
“You’re not going to say it’s a bad idea?”
“I think you get to decide.”
Sadie nodded.
“Good.”
Then she returned to bed.
Grant remained by the window.
May you like
For the first time, he understood that protecting Sadie would not mean keeping her away from every edge forever.
It would mean making sure the choice to approach one was hers.
Related Stories
