Chapter 9 - HE WASN’T AFRAID OF LOSING THE COMPANY
Russell’s deposition lasted seven hours.
I was not in the room.
Andrea was.
She brought me the transcript afterward.
“Read when you’re ready.”
I read immediately.
Question:
When did you first believe Heather may have rescued you from the Aspen fire?
Russell:
Three years ago.
Question:
Before that, did you believe Gwendolyn?
Russell:
Yes.
Question:
Completely?
Pause.
Russell:
Mostly.
Mostly.
Six years of being called jealous.
Mostly.
Question:
Why investigate?
Russell:
My father pushed me.
Question:
What did the investigator conclude?
Russell:
That Heather probably pulled me out.
Question:
Did you tell Heather?
Russell:
No.
Question:
Why?
Russell:
It was complicated.
Question:
How?
Russell:
Fairchild had business ties. Gwendolyn had built her identity around what happened. Heather and I were already struggling.
Question:
Were you having an affair with Gwendolyn?
Long pause.
Russell:
Not physically then.
Then.
Important word.
Question:
Emotionally?
Russell:
Yes.
Question:
Did you believe Heather would leave if she learned you had doubted her story despite the investigator’s conclusion?
Russell:
I thought she might.
Question:
Was that part of why you withheld the report?
Russell:
Yes.
I stopped.
Andrea waited.
“That’s the part.”
“Yes.”
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“Not just Aspen.”
“No.”
“He knew the truth could give me a choice he didn’t want me to have.”
“Yes.”
I kept reading.
Question:
Did you continue telling Heather that Gwendolyn saved your life after receiving the report?
Russell:
Yes.
Question:
Why?
Russell:
Because that was the history everyone knew.
Question:
Was it true?
Russell:
Probably not.
Question:
Did you ever tell Gwendolyn about the investigator’s conclusion?
Russell:
Yes.
My stomach tightened.
“When?”
Andrea pointed.
Two days after the report.
Question:
What did Ms. Fairchild say?
Russell:
That memory after trauma is imperfect and the investigator could be wrong.
Question:
Did she admit she had not physically carried you out?
Russell:
Yes.
The room around me disappeared.
There it was.
Not yet Chapter Ten.
But almost.
Gwendolyn admitted.
Russell knew.
They both continued the public story.
Question:
Why?
Russell:
It had become bigger than one night.
Question:
Meaning?
Russell:
Families. Business. Reputation.
Question:
Your marriage?
Russell:
Yes.
Question:
Did Heather’s truth matter?
Russell:
Yes.
Question:
Then why not tell her?
Russell:
Because by then I didn’t know how to do it without losing her.
I laughed.
A man afraid of losing me had chosen the method most guaranteed to make that happen once I knew.
Then Andrea said:
“There’s more.”
The deposition turned to the birthday.
Question:
Did you know Ms. Fairchild intended to create an incident?
Russell:
I knew she was angry.
Question:
Did she tell you she would provide a concrete incident?
Russell:
Yes.
Question:
Did you ask what?
Russell:
No.
There it was.
Again.
No.
Question:
Why not?
Russell:
I assumed she meant confrontation.
Question:
With Heather?
Russell:
Yes.
Question:
Did you want a confrontation?
Russell:
I wanted clarity.
The family word.
Question:
When Ms. Fairchild accused Phoebe, did you remember telling her to keep Phoebe out of it?
Russell:
Yes.
Question:
Did that make you doubt her?
Pause.
Russell:
For a moment.
Question:
What did you do?
Russell:
I believed her anyway.
Question:
Why?
Long pause.
Russell:
Because Heather had been angry about Gwendolyn for years.
Question:
Was Heather wrong to be angry?
Russell:
No.
That answer came after thirty belt strikes.
After stitches.
After police.
Too late.
Then Russell denied knowing Gwendolyn tore the dress herself before he brought us home.
Maybe true.
He said he believed the accusation until later.
The recovered body-camera audio would matter.
Not yet available to us.
Police had received a copy.
The prosecutor reviewed it.
Then we got one more corporate document.
A board memo from Russell three years earlier.
FAIRCHILD RELATIONSHIP RISK.
He wrote:
If rescue narrative is corrected, personal and commercial credibility issues arise. Recommendation: no proactive disclosure absent legal requirement.
Not his father.
Not Gwendolyn.
Russell.
He had turned the truth about who saved his life into a disclosure decision.
I closed the file.
Grant was at my kitchen counter.
He had been helping Phoebe build a cardboard castle.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“No.”
“Fair.”
I sat.
“He knew.”
Grant waited.
“And he kept saying I was jealous.”
“I know.”
“He let me think I was crazy.”
“Yes.”
“I stayed.”
Grant shook his head.
“Do not do that.”
“What?”
“Turn his lie into your choice.”
“I did choose to stay.”
“With false information.”
I stared.
He continued.
“You can own the years you ignored your instincts.”
His voice softened.
“But don’t gift him the years he deliberately hid evidence.”
That was why I called my brothers.
Not for money.
Because sometimes family remembers the version of you that existed before someone trained you to doubt her.
Then Andrea called.
“The security audio has been cleared for limited disclosure in your civil matter.”
My body tightened.
“How much?”
“Thirty-seven minutes.”
“Do we hear it?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Does Russell know?”
“His criminal lawyer has it.”
“Gwendolyn?”
“Her counsel too.”
“What’s on it?”
Andrea paused.
“I only heard the first minute.”
“And?”
“Enough that you should not listen alone.”
I looked toward Phoebe.
She was placing paper flags on the castle.
“What did you hear?”
May you like
Andrea answered:
“Gwendolyn telling Russell the dress was never the point.”
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