Page 113 of The Paradise Problem

My stomach sinks. “How old was Liam when all this happened?”

“Let’s see. He developed the software when he was fifteen to maybe seventeen? And the scandal broke about three years later. I think he was twenty. Twenty-one. Thereabouts. God, he was gorgeous. All that pent-up—”

“Blaire.”

“Sorry,” she says, and laughs. “He was a minor when he created it, so it’s why his name generally wasn’t used in any of the stories. After Kasey came forward, all hell broke loose behind the scenes. God, the number of lawsuits they must have settled out of court. I can’t even imagine.”

“If they’re settled, why did Ray even do this?”

“Because he’s pissed as hell and a lunatic,” she says, like I’m very stupid. “I bet that fucker dumped a ton of stock so he won’t feel the pain of this in his portfolio, either.”

And I guess I am very stupid, because I cannot fathom a human this petty and terrible. I feel my jaw slowly drop. “I’m sorry, you mean he really did this because he’s mad Liam won’t do what he says?”

“Ray is a first-class narcissist, Anna. Are you just now figuring that out?”

“But Liam is his son.”

Blaire barks out a laugh. “It’s honestly sweet the way you think that matters at all.”

“In most families, it matters a lot,” I reply.

“Janet always says Liam was her thinker. Imagine a boy who, at fifteen, conceives of a system that could be successfully implemented for a NASDAQ-traded company. If I’m honest, I think it intimidated Ray a little. God knows Liam intimidated me.” She lowers her voice. “You’ve seen the way Ray is with the guys. He’s always been like that, thinks he’s toughening them up. It works with Alex, but Liam never fell into line. If you ask me, that’s what Ray hates and respects the most in Liam. He doesn’t bend. And if Liam turned him down for this job?” She whistles.

I look back at the television. The chyron has been updated again—Stanford University releases statement: “Liam Weston is a promising young professor. We are launching a full probe into these allegations.”

What a mess.

I start pacing again. “Why doesn’t Liam just come out and tell the truth? That it was Ray behind all the messages?”

“Because all of the communication was sent from an admin account. Ray can easily shrug and say he’s an old grocery man who doesn’t even know which button turns on the monitor. And Liam did create the software. He did enable the surveillance.”

“Fuck,” I whisper.

“Between you and me,” Blaire says, “I wasn’t one bit surprised when he started that foundation.”

“Oh, right. He mentioned that. What is it exactly?”

“He set up an endowment for Weston employees.”

My gaze locks, unseeing, on the television as I process this. “An endowment?”

“Yeah, so anyone at the company can apply for a grant to take a class, go to college, travel, or purchase a home. Basically, he’s trying to rebuild the culture in his own way, on the outside.” While my mind blanks of everything but overwhelming adoration for Liam, Blaire cups her hand over the phone and hollers out to the kids in the background. When she comes back, she says, “His entire inheritance is going into it. It’s all anonymous, as far as I know, but he’s had IT put the link to the application right on the website. Drives Ray fucking crazy, but of course Ray takes credit for it anyway. We all know it’s Liam.”

And at her mention of the trust and what Liam’s doing with his, I realize what this means. Liam said no to Ray. He chose himself. Ray could and will challenge the inheritance.

An idea sparks, sending hope spreading warm and electric through my veins. I think I know what to do. It’s going to be a gamble, but I know I wasn’t wrong about Liam’s siblings: they will always choose the money.

I reach for my purse and mouth to my dad that I have to go but I’ll fill him in as soon as I can.

“Blaire,” I say, opening my Uber app, “I need to tell you something, and you’re not going to like it. But first… do you know where Liam lives?”

* * *

TURNS OUT, BLAIRE ONLY vaguely knows where Liam lives, and after I fill her in on the situation with the loophole and the trust and how she and Alex and all the Weston children could possibly lose all their money, she’s screaming too much to be very useful anyway.

Jake is more helpful. He replies to my text saying he has no idea what Liam’s address is, because every time he’s visited, Liam has picked him up at the airport.

Do you just float through life completely oblivious?

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