Chapter 6
Tamsin finally requested a meeting.
Orson agreed only with attorneys present.
She entered the conference room wearing black, no jewelry except her wedding band from a marriage that had ended years ago.
For the first time since the dinner, she looked less angry than exhausted.
Orson placed no photographs on the table.
No dramatic evidence.
Only Mara’s emergency-care instructions.
“You knew what this meant.”
Tamsin glanced at the page.
“Yes.”
“You knew what the inhaler was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew what could happen if a child couldn’t access it.”
Her face changed.
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because you weren’t there.”
“Then tell me what I’m missing.”
Tamsin looked toward Elena.
Her attorney shook his head slightly.
She ignored him.
“Luca panicked.”
Orson said nothing.
“He would feel tightness and become terrified. Then his breathing got worse because he was terrified.”
“That can happen.”
“You see?”
“No.”
Orson leaned forward.
“I see how you found one true thing and used it to dismiss everything else.”
Tamsin’s eyes filled.
“You think you understand because your daughter has a pouch and a specialist and everyone jumps when she coughs.”
“My daughter follows her doctor’s plan.”
“So did Luca.”
The sentence came out too quickly.
Tamsin immediately stopped.
Orson heard it.
So did Elena.
“If Luca followed his plan,” Orson said, “why did you tell the family his condition was unexpected?”
Tamsin stood.
The meeting ended.
But she had given him something important.
She no longer claimed ignorance.
She knew Luca had a diagnosed condition.
She knew what his treatment plan required.
The family story about a sudden, unforeseeable respiratory collapse had been false.
That night, Orson received another piece from Rachel.
Not Luca’s confidential file.
A general historical fact.
Rachel had trained at the same pediatric clinic years earlier.
The clinic changed its family-education program after a child’s death in the Bellori case.
Orson stared at her.
“You knew.”
“I knew there had been a case.”
“Did you know it was Luca?”
“Yes.”
“And you treated Mara without telling me?”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“I treated Mara based on Mara.”
That stopped him.
She continued.
May you like
“I was not going to turn your daughter into a continuation of somebody else’s tragedy.”
Orson realized how easily he was beginning to do exactly that.
