“I should have checked what that meant for you.”
Melissa thanked her for saying it plainly.
Vivien asked whether she could do anything more.
Melissa said cooperation with the accounting mattered more than another gift.
Vivien nodded.
They returned to the room and continued reviewing documents.
One reimbursement category had been calculated using an outdated estimate.
The neutral accountant explained the correction.
Charles’s counsel accepted the revised figure for purposes of negotiation.
Melissa was surprised how much relief came from a simple acknowledgment of an error.
There was no dramatic confession.
There was only a factual problem that someone finally agreed to fix.
Later, Grant asked whether Charles had apologized.
Melissa said no.
Grant looked disappointed on her behalf.
“Do you still need him to?” he asked.
Melissa considered the question.
“I would like him to understand,” she said.
“But I cannot build my recovery around whether he ever does.”
Grant said that sounded difficult.
Melissa agreed.
Then she asked how Noah’s soccer practice had gone.
The conversation moved to muddy cleats and a missing water bottle.
Both of them welcomed the ordinary subject.
Chapter 38: The Mediation
The parties agreed to a mediation session after weeks of document exchanges.
Rachel attended for the surrogacy dispute, while Jordan advised Melissa on employment issues.
Charles arrived with separate counsel for the family office and Whitmore Logistics.
Vivien was present because some of the relevant decisions affected her family directly.
The mediator explained that the purpose was to explore resolution, not to decide who was morally superior.
Melissa found that instruction useful.
She had been treated as a saint, a traitor, an employee, and a problem, sometimes in the same day.
She wanted a chance to speak as a person.
Rachel presented the payment records and asked for a complete accounting of reimbursements.
The family office acknowledged that its tracking system contained inconsistent labels and that some documents had not been supplied promptly.
Charles denied directing anyone to alter initials.
The mediator separated the question of disputed documents from the question of unpaid amounts.
A document specialist’s preliminary findings suggested that the initials required additional examination.
Melissa did not accuse anyone of forging them during the session.
She asked only that no disputed amendment be treated as accepted while the review continued.
Jordan then addressed the timing of work decisions and requested a clear employment separation arrangement.
Charles’s lawyer argued that staffing needs were legitimate.
Jordan pointed to records showing decisions had been discussed by people outside Melissa’s reporting line.
