Chapter 13 - WHAT HARRISON KNEW
Months after the divorce filing, Clara had coffee with Harrison.
He looked exhausted.
“You know I hated handing you that folder in public.”
“I know.”
“You also know Adrian still tells people I orchestrated everything.”
“I know.”
Harrison stirred his coffee.
“He was good.”
Clara nodded.
“That’s why this lasted so long.”
Incompetence is easy.
Competent people with entitlement are harder.
Organizations keep giving them chances because every good quarter becomes evidence that bad behavior is tolerable.
Harrison said:
“He convinced himself your authority was unfair, so bypassing it felt morally justified.”
Clara looked toward the window.
“That sounds like him.”
“Did he always resent you?”
“No.”
Then she corrected herself.
“I don’t know.”
Maybe resentment had always been there.
Maybe it grew when admiration stopped being enough.
Adrian loved Clara when her power felt adjacent to his ambition.
May you like
He struggled when it remained independent of him.
That distinction had taken her too long to see.
