Chapter 9 - WHAT MASON DID NEXTMason froze every account connected to Vincent.
Evelyn’s estate had left protected shares for Ben and Ava.
Mason controlled them as trustee until the children reached adulthood.
Clarissa possessed no authority.
Yet forged documents named her prospective guardian if Mason became unavailable.
Vincent had used those documents to move nearly three million dollars into a private investment fund.
The money had not yet disappeared.
Banks stopped the transfers.
Financial motive now joined emotional cruelty.
Clarissa wanted Ben labeled violent and removed.
She wanted Ava isolated and dependent.
Then she intended to persuade Mason—or a court—that she should help control the children’s assets.
When Mason refused, Vincent prepared to challenge his capacity as trustee.
Clarissa planned to portray him as unstable.
His slap provided evidence she had not expected but immediately used.
“She wanted me to lose control,” Mason told his attorney.
“Yes.”
“And I did.”
“One incident does not prove her entire claim.”
“It gave it weight.”
Mason completed the anger-management program without treating it as punishment beneath him.
He learned that protective anger could be useful.
Violent action narrowed choices.
The safest response would have been to remove the scissors, place himself between Clarissa and the children, then call police.
He had done only part of that.
At home, he changed practical things.
Ben and Ava received direct access to him, their grandmother, their therapist and the family lawyer.
No adult could block every line of communication.
Household reports included the children’s own accounts.
Mason reduced business travel.
He did not promise never to leave.
He promised that leaving would not mean disappearing.
Ava kept her uneven ponytails.
The right side remained visibly shorter.
Every morning, she touched both white ribbons to ensure they were still there.
Mason asked whether she wanted a stylist.
“No.”
“When will you?”
“When I decide.”
He accepted that.
The scissors had taken choice from her.
Repair could not take another choice.
Ben continued sleeping outside Ava’s room.
Mason found him curled in the hallway.
“You don’t have to guard her.”
“What if Clarissa comes back?”
“The doors are secured.”
“She knew the codes before.”
“They’ve been changed.”
“What if—”
Mason sat beside him.
“For tonight, I’ll stay here.”
Ben looked at him.
“You have work.”
“You are my work tonight.”
They remained outside Ava’s door until Ben fell asleep.
The following evening, Mason placed a chair there.
By the fourth night, Ben slept in his own room.
The criminal investigation continued.
Vincent began cooperating.
He gave prosecutors a folder Clarissa had stored in his office.
Inside were staged incident plans.
One page described the haircut.
Object: Silver scissors.
Target reaction: Ava cries, Ben intervenes.
Recorded conclusion: Ben cuts Ava during jealous outburst.
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The plan ended with one line:
After this, Mason will have no choice but to send him away.
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