Chapter 24 - My enemies are not a parenting argument
Child welfare closed its active case after:
Belladonna removed.
Household protocols corrected.
Eira in therapy.
No new concerns.
They did not certify me as perfect father.
Final note:
Valerian demonstrated improved oversight but remains in a high-risk public profile requiring continued child-specific safety planning.
Fair.
Then one investigator asked:
“Have you considered whether your lifestyle itself is harmful to Eira?”
There.
The question Belladonna had corrupted but not invented.
I could have answered:
I provide everything.
Guards.
Schools.
Money.
I did not.
“Yes.”
“What are you doing?”
I divested from two relationships that created unnecessary criminal/reputational exposure? Need avoid details. We can say I withdrew from several business associations flagged by counsel and compliance, formalized legitimate holdings, stepped back from informal arrangements. Could sound like crime rehabilitation but not instructional.
I strengthened independent compliance across Costello Group.
Reduced personal involvement with individuals whose disputes created risk.
Allowed board counsel to make decisions I used to make privately.
Not sainthood.
Risk reduction.
I had spent years believing fear was armor.
Belladonna believed the same thing.
May you like
She simply turned it inward.
Eira deserved adults who did not call terror protection.
