Chapter 10 - Theo’s RulesTheo had rules.
Celia discovered them slowly.
Do not walk behind Vance when he is on the phone.
Do not touch the thermostat.
Do not ask about Dad during dinner.
Do not open the office door.
Do not sit in Andrew’s chair if Vance is home.
Do not tell Grandma Ruth when Vance yells.
Do not cry after being punished because crying makes it worse.
Celia wrote none of them down.
She simply listened as Theo revealed them.
Some came out during therapy.
Others appeared in ordinary moments.
When Ruth adjusted the thermostat, Theo whispered:
“Vance hates that.”
When Celia mentioned Andrew at breakfast, Theo looked toward the door.
When he spilled milk, he immediately dropped to his knees to clean it with his sleeve.
Celia stopped him gently.
“Get a towel.”
“I can clean it.”
“I know.”
“I have to do it fast.”
“No.”
Theo froze.
Celia crouched.
“There is no fast rule.”
He looked confused.
She realized how much of his life had become organized around anticipating anger.
The therapist explained that recovery would not be a speech.
It would be repetition.
Safe reaction after safe reaction.
Accident after accident.
Boundary after boundary.
That evening Theo asked:
“Did Vance go to jail?”
“He was arrested. The court is deciding what happens next.”
“Is he coming home?”
“No.”
Celia had obtained longer-term protective orders while the criminal case proceeded.
Theo nodded.
Then asked:
“Is he mad?”
“Probably.”
“At me?”
Celia shook her head.
“What Vance feels is Vance’s responsibility.”
“He said I ruined everything.”
Celia’s hands tightened.
“When?”
“Before.”
“Before what?”
“The cage.”
Theo explained that after the vase fell, Vance called him “the last problem.”
Celia’s pulse quickened.
“What exactly did he say?”
Theo thought.
“He said, ‘I am so close, and you keep ruining everything.’”
Quinn documented the statement.
Close to what?
The financial records already provided the likely answer.
Vance’s lender deadline.
The planned petition.
The forged statement.
The residential placement file.
Everything converged.
Then Theo remembered another sentence.
“He said Rachel was coming Monday.”
Celia stared.
Rachel was indeed scheduled to visit the following Monday.
Not for a trust sale.
For the annual estate review required under Andrew’s planning documents.
It was usually routine.
Rachel met Celia.
Checked on Theo.
Reviewed whether the house remained appropriate.
Vance had asked to attend this year.
Celia had agreed.
“He was planning to make Theo perform for Rachel,” she said.
Rachel’s face tightened.
“Most likely.”
Vance needed Theo frightened and compliant before the meeting.
The crate may have been intended as punishment, not confinement for hours.
But its message was unmistakable.
Obey.
Say what you’re told.
Or worse happens.
The timing strengthened the larger pattern.
On Friday, prosecutors added charges related to the documented conduct toward Theo.
The separate financial investigation continued.
Vance’s attorney attacked the allegations.
He claimed Celia was weaponizing a marital dispute.
That made Ruth furious.
Celia surprised herself by remaining calm.
“He needs me emotional,” she said.
Ruth looked at her.
“What?”
“He’s always needed me emotional.”
If Celia became hysterical, Vance could call her unstable.
If she questioned him, he called her grief-driven.
If Theo cried, Vance called him dysregulated.
Vance’s favorite weapon was defining everyone else’s reaction.
Celia was done giving him that power.
The next afternoon she entered the living room with Theo.
Investigators had released the space.
The crate was still in evidence.
The floor had been cleaned.
The side table remained.
Celia considered removing it.
Theo stopped her.
“Leave it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Theo looked at the empty tabletop.
“Because it’s a table.”
Celia’s eyes filled.
He did not want the room redesigned around Vance.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
Theo walked past it carefully.
Then stopped.
Walked backward.
Passed it again.
His shoulder came within inches.
Celia held her breath.
Theo looked at her.
“See?”
“See what?”
“I didn’t break anything.”
Celia smiled.
“You also wouldn’t be in trouble if you did.”
Theo nodded.
May you like
But he still looked at the table as though it were testing him.
Healing would take longer than removing a crate.
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