Chapter 7: Richard Makes His Move
Grace called at seven in the morning, four days after the court motion was filed.
"He's pushing back," she said.
"His legal team filed a motion to seal the records on the grounds of patient privacy.
They're arguing that releasing the file — even to you — violates the confidentiality of other patients."
Emily was already dressed.
She had been awake since five.
"He's using patient privacy to protect himself from his own patients," she said.
"It's a standard delay tactic.
The judge will likely see through it, but it buys him time." Grace paused.
"There's more.
His attorney contacted me directly last night.
They've revised the settlement offer."
"How much?"
"Seven hundred and fifty thousand.
Full NDA.
Destruction of all documents.
And—" Grace's voice was careful.
"A clause requiring you to make no contact with any other former residents of the facility."
Daniel was in the doorway again.
He had learned to position himself there in the mornings.
"He knows about Pauline," Emily said.
"That's what I think too."
"Can he enforce a clause like that?"
"If you sign it, yes.
It would be a binding contract.
Any contact with Pauline or anyone else would expose you to a lawsuit." Grace paused.
"Emily, I have to tell you — this amount of money is real.
I'm not going to pretend it isn't.
And his legal team is not small.
If this goes to court, it will be long and it will be hard."
"I know."
"I want to make sure you know what you're choosing."
"I know what I'm choosing," Emily said.
"Send him a counter."
"What terms?"
"Full file disclosure.
Public acknowledgment of the facility's practices.
Dissolution of the Hale Foundation's youth mental health program pending independent review.
And compensation — not just for me.
For every former resident who comes forward."
Grace was quiet for a moment.
"He won't accept that."
"I know he won't.
But I want him to read it.
I want him to understand that I'm not negotiating the price.
I'm negotiating what happens to him."
Grace sent the counter that afternoon.
Richard's response came by phone, not through his attorney.
Emily's cell rang at six in the evening.
She answered it.
"You're making a mistake," Richard said.
His voice was controlled but there was something underneath it now.
Something that hadn't been there in the garden.
"I don't think so," Emily said.
"You have no idea what a case like this looks like from the inside.
The discovery process alone will take years.
You'll be deposed.
Daniel will be deposed.
Every piece of your life for the past thirty years will be examined by my legal team."
"I've lived my life honestly," Emily said.
"I'm not afraid of it being examined."
"I'm not talking about honesty.
I'm talking about endurance.
These cases grind people down.
They're designed to." A pause.
"Take the money, Emily.
Raise your son.
Let this go."
"You built a foundation," Emily said.
"A youth mental health initiative.
You put your name on it.
You went to the ribbon-cutting.
You smiled for the photograph."
Silence.
"How many children have passed through that foundation's programs?" Emily asked.
"Who oversees the clinical staff?
Who reviews the placements?"
"That foundation has helped hundreds of—"
"I'm going to find out," Emily said.
"And if there is a single child in that program who is there because someone signed a form they didn't understand, I will not stop.
Not for seven hundred and fifty thousand.
Not for any number."
The line was quiet for a long moment.
"You were always stubborn," Richard said.
"Even at seventeen."
"You remember me at seventeen?"
Another silence.
Longer this time.
"Goodnight, Richard," Emily said.
She ended the call.
Daniel came into the room.
He had heard her side of it.
"He remembered you," Daniel said.
"Yes."
"He was there.
At the facility.
He wasn't just the person who signed the form."
Emily set her phone on the table.
"I've suspected that for a while."
"Does Grace know?"
"She will tomorrow." Emily looked at her son.
"How are you doing with all of this?"
Daniel sat down across from her.
He thought about it genuinely, the way he always did before answering something important.
"I'm angry," he said.
"But I'm okay." He paused.
"Are you?"
Emily considered the question.
"I'm the closest to okay I've been in thirty years," she said.
Daniel nodded slowly.
Then Emily's phone buzzed on the table.
A message from a number she didn't recognize.
*I was at Hale Care Home from 1995 to 1997.
I saw your court filing.
I have documents.
Please call me.*
May you like
Emily stared at the message.
Then she picked up the phone and called Grace.
