Chapter 12
The consequences were not the kind Alistair’s capos expected.
Nobody disappeared.
No one was dragged into a back room.
No secret punishment was ordered.
The law did what it could.
Corinne faced the consequences of assaulting Sadie and Daphne at the gala.
The professional review handled something different.
Harbor House confirmed that Corinne had violated policy by repeatedly accessing Elena’s closed file after her death without a documented work reason.
She had also failed to disclose the prior confidential-client connection when her later relationship with Alistair created obvious ethical concerns.
Corinne was no longer employed in that field, so there was no job to lose.
But the findings were formally documented and affected professional credentials she still maintained.
Alistair brought a civil privacy claim through Elena’s estate.
He did not demand an absurd sum.
He demanded accountability and permanent restrictions on use or disclosure of Elena’s confidential information.
Corinne agreed to a settlement.
The protective order involving Sadie remained.
No contact.
No gifts.
No letters sent directly to the child.
No approaching Daphne.
Corinne accepted all of it.
Then Alistair had to confront something harder.
Elena’s file.
Rebecca had released only what he was legally entitled to see.
Enough remained to make Elena’s message painfully clear.
She had not wanted to destroy their family.
She wanted Alistair to decide what kind of family mattered more.
The private notes described her frustration with his constant answer:
After this problem.
After this dispute.
After this deal.
After this year.
Then they would move meetings away from home.
Then he would travel less.
Then Sadie would see fewer guards.
Then family life would come first.
Elena had stopped believing in then.
Alistair read one note repeatedly.
Client says partner is a devoted father when physically present, but his world requires everyone else to organize their lives around his absences.
He closed the file.
Corinne’s betrayal was real.
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But so was the truth she had stolen.
Elena had been planning to force him to confront something he had successfully avoided until death made the conversation impossible.
