Prodigal Daughter

Effie was dying.

In the corner of her office, the fan was twisting slowly twisting left and right with a purring noise that was quickly giving her a headache. She had already adjusted the thermostat twice – to the point Peeta had made an executive decision to wear his jacket when he came in to hand her things – and yet she was still fanning herself with a folder containing the different drafts for the President's speech announcing the beginning of the construction work on the brand new dam in Five. It wasn't urgent yet and she still needed to decide on which one to submit to Haymitch and Plutarch for approval anyway. They could be used as a makeshift fan in the meantime.

Not that anything she did manage to cool her down.

It wasn't even that hot. Rationally, she knew that. Yes, spring had finally favored them and it was clearly warm enough for short sleeves and cute outfits that she was glad to be able to wear again but it wasn't that hot. It was the fertility treatment making her feel that way.

As if the random bouts of nausea and dizziness weren't fun enough… She had thought she would be spared the hot flashes because she hadn't suffered from any so far but… Clearly, that wasn't to be.

And she was smoldering in her classy fashionable suit.

She was embarrassed by the fact she was sweating like a pig and that her soft pink gauzy button up shirt was definitely sticky under her armpits. She would have to wear her jacket during the press briefing if it went on that way and she wasn't looking forward to that at all. She would look red and blotchy.

She mumbled a come in to the quick knock at the door, looking up from the computer – at least she had made some progress on that collective in Five. Peeta winced as soon as he put a foot in her office – and he had his jacket on.

"Security called in, there's someone for you downstairs." her assistant told her and then shook his head. "Geez, Effie, it's freezing in here. You're going to get sick…" She shot him a warning look and he quickly lifted his hands. "Sorry, but it's true."

"Who is it?" she asked, turning back to her computer. "Because if it is my father and my nephews again, kindly told Security I am not available."

"It's your sister." Peeta shrugged. "It seems urgent."

Effie checked her phone, abandoned behind a pile of paper she had previously used as a makeshift fan too, and, surely enough, there were two missed calls from Lyssa dating back an hour or so. She sighed. "Please, go fetch her, will you?"

The idea of trekking downstairs and arguing with Peacekeeper Clay while he ogled her legs wasn't a tempting one, not when she was sure the trip would kill her.

"Doesn't she need to be pre-approved or…" Peeta hesitated.

"Tell them to give her a day-badge and forget the paperwork." Effie cut him off. "If they're being difficult tell them it's a direct order from me. And if they're being extra difficult…" Which they would probably be. "…threaten to call me so I can waltz in the President's office and he can call them down directly… Don't forget to mention he won't be happy to be bothered over this. That should convince them."

Peeta lifted his eyebrows and she just knew he would find a more diplomatic way to fix the problem but his mouth still twitched with amusement. "Yes, ma'am."

Knowing it would probably be at least fifteen minutes before Peeta managed to get Lyssa into the actual building, Effie tried to go back to work. And gave up after five minutes. She was much too hot.

She took a bottle of water out of the mini-fridge elegantly disguised as another wood cupboard and drank a whole quarter of it directly from the rim like a ruffian. It did little to cool her down. She wished Rascal was around to distract her but the cat had been deserting her office for Haymitch's ever since she had started lowering the temperature. Apparently, he didn't like freezing climates.

Or maybe he simply liked lounging on the uncomfortable Presidential couch and looking all regally condescending when Haymitch had important guests… The cat was never asked to relocate to accommodate the President's appointment…

The knock on the door – Peeta's – barely preceded Lyssa throwing the door open and striding in, only to immediately shut the door in her assistant's face with a smile and a grateful thank you.

Effie lifted her eyebrows and hastily placed down the cold bottle of water she had rolling against her neck to take a seat behind her desk.

Lyssa looked agitated but she still took the time to frown. "Why is it so cold in here?"

"Do not ask." she begged and her sister eventually dismissed that with an impatient wave of her hand, clearly having more pressing matters in mind.

"I need your help." Lyssa declared, point blank, her voice laced with something that sounded like… panic. Effie hadn't heard it often. Lyssa was extremely level-headed. All Trinket women were.

"What is it?" she asked, a little worried. "Are the boys alright? Is it Mother? Has she been a pain to you again?"

Lyssa shook her head. "Rufus was arrested."

Effie blinked.

And blinked again.

Oh, that was potentially very bad…

For Lyssa and the boys, true, but also, for her.

"When? And on what charges?" She turned to her computer screen, her fingers flying over the keyboard, trying to reel in the contagious panic because really…

She had a software. A few keywords and any match with press articles would rise up. It allowed her to monitor specific situations – also her own reputation, she checked it every day like clockwork while she was still in bed and, that morning, nothing had jumped out at her except for a newish speculative article about the true nature of her relationship with Haymitch.

Rufus Flavershym didn't raise any red flags. The most recent article was dated back a couple of weeks earlier and Rufus was mostly mentioned because he had attended a political reunion of some sort.

"Early this morning." Lyssa sighed, rubbing her face, smearing her make-up a little. "He called me from jail at five a.m., if you can believe it… He wanted me to contact our lawyer and secure bail…"

"Have you?" Effie frowned. It was a small miracle it hadn't yet broken out if it had been that long. And she was going to have to get in front of the story before the story swallowed her. Her brother-in-law in jail… That wouldn't look good. She would have to make a statement at the beginning of the press briefing, before someone could ask a potentially embarrassing question. "And you did not say for what?"

Lyssa pursed her lips. "No, I haven't."

"Is it too expensive?" she asked, trying to be tactful. The Flavershyms didn't exactly lack money but… "I can…"

"Money isn't the problem." her sister hissed. "I am not sure I want to help him."

The lawyer could probably get it done regardless of if she wanted to help or not since, to her knowledge, their bank account was a joined one but Effie didn't point that out. Her sister looked frightened, angry and terribly sad and… She wasn't sure what to do.

It annoyed her that throughout all that she couldn't forget she was too hot.

She stood up and rounded the desk to sit in the vacant visitor chair next to Lyssa's, reaching for her sister's hand. "Lyssandra, why was he arrested?"

She was hoping it would be drunk driving. No Peacekeeper would arrest someone as influential as Rufus on a trifle matter. Drunk driving was bad but it wasn't murder so Effie could firmly condemn the misbehavior and lie about Rufus seeking treatment or something, his own PR team would probably be going with something along those lines anyway… Drunk driving was something Rufus would do too so…

"He was with a prostitute." Lyssa spat. "And they have evidence it was not the first time. The idiot was paying them directly from our bank account."

Effie froze.

Oh, that was bad.

She would have taken murder over a sex scandal…

Sex scandals when she was secretly involved with the President of Panem? It wasn't a good match.

"Alright…" Effie said, purely to gain time, thinking…

"Our lawyer managed to keep it quiet for now but he says it will snowball. That the Peacekeepers have their hooks into him now and that they are going to look everywhere…" Lyssa sighed, covering her face with the hand Effie wasn't holding.

"Yes." She winced. "That seems likely."

Influence or not, if they had damning evidence… Well, it was good press for whatever Peacekeeper had caught him. It would mean a promotion for sure – assuming the charges stuck.

"Can you make it go away?" her sister asked, squeezing her hand. Her blue eyes were pleading, her face desperate… She was looking at Effie as if she was her last hope.

"Go away?" Effie repeated, not understanding until she did. "Are you asking me to…" She couldn't even say it out loud. "You cannot say things like that in here."

The offices weren't bugged. They had been once upon a time, under a different President, but now they weren't. Or they were supposed not to be. Some things were above even her pay grade.

"You work in the Presidential Mansion…" Lyssa whispered urgently. "Don't tell me it never happened before and…"

"Be quiet." she insisted. "We are not talking about this here."

She briefly considered taking Lyssa out to the coffee shop at the street corner but then remembered how many journalists hang out there to waste time before the press briefing and reconsidered. She needed a place where they could speak without any risk of being overheard and where Effie wouldn't feel like she was committing treason even talking about what Lyssa was asking her to do.

She hesitated only one second before going back to her computer and adding Lyssa to the list of people authorized on the residential floor. That was the best option – certainly a better one than to drag her back to her apartment when she needed to be at the Mansion in time to brief the press in an hour and a half.

"Come on." she told Lyssa, guiding her out of her office. The difference in temperatures between her office and the open space made her groan but she soldiered on, stopping at Peeta's desk. "You will have to do the senior staff meeting for me. There is nothing alarming on our end." That wasn't entirely true. If Rufus' story broke… She would be splashed and that would need to be handled. And if the prosecutor was hungry enough for blood, he could probably found excuses to go after her and… That was worse case scenario, of course. More likely than not she would get out of it by openly condemning Rufus and… Crushing her ambivalent feelings in the bud, she focused back on Peeta. "Tell President Abernathy I am having an early lunch if he asks questions."

She didn't want Haymitch involved in any of this.

Plausible deniability and all that jazz…

With some luck, he would figure she was too nauseous from the treatment and needed a break and he wouldn't question it.

She guided Lyssa around the corridors. Naturally, they were stopped by a very apologetic Peacekeeper when they reached the residential floor but she had him check the list and he was only too happy to let them through – the story of what had happened with Thread had become bigger and bigger until it had turned into a cautionary tale for all Peacekeepers that she was to be treated as a First Lady would; an outlandish rumor had it that Haymitch had somehow gotten a hold on Thread's gun and shot him blank during the scuffle, his body disposed of by Gale and never seen again.

Speaking of Gale, she realized, he must have been too busy flirting with the pretty redhead to notice she was leaving the office because he hadn't followed her… Boggs wouldn't be pleased about that. He wouldn't be pleased that she had added her un-vetted sister with a soon to be felon-husband on the list of guests admitted to the residential floor either, though, so all things considered…

Lyssa looked around her when she let them into the Presidential suite, a bit curious and maybe also impressed, but too worried to enjoy any of it.

"Sit down." Effie encouraged, waving at the couch. "Do you want something to drink? I will call for some tea…"

"I don't want anything to drink, I want you to fix this." Lyssa exploded, raising her voice. She looked horrified at her own outburst. Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head. "I apologize. I… Effie, I…"

"You had a shock." Effie dismissed, sitting down on the couch and patting the empty seat next to her. Rascal had clearly been there recently because there were patches of dark fur but Lyssa didn't notice when she ungracefully flopped down. "I am not sure exactly what is it you expect me to do…"

Lyssandra stared at her, obviously lost. "Isn't this what you do? Aren't you a… What do they call it… A fixer?"

Fixer was the term most people used for people who were as talented as she was. Part PR, part lawyer… She had quite a few numbers of skills.

"I won't use my position to make his crimes disappear." she refused and when Lyssa opened her mouth, she lifted a preemptive hand. "And I won't ask Haymitch to compromise himself either."

Bitterness flashed on Lyssa's face. "So much for being better sisters to one another. Or was it only worth it as long as you were the one who needed help?"

"That's unfair." Effie remarked calmly.

"Is it?" Lyssa sneered, tearing up. "Because you won't help me when…"

"I did not say I wouldn't help you." she cut her off. "I said I would not attempt to cover Rufus' crimes."

Lyssa shook her head, the fight deserting her. She slouched, bending in two to cover her face with her hands. "How is that any different?"

"I suppose it depends of what you want to do, dear…" she offered. She lifted a hesitant hand, lowered it and then lifted it again to rub her sister's back. Her tensed muscles slowly relaxed under her palm. "Do you want to stay with him? Because… This is ground for a quick divorce."

"I want to protect the boys…" Lyssa whispered, sounding desperate.

Effie sighed sadly. "I am not sure you can. Something like this…" She paused, took a moment to think. "If that's what you want to do, I can explain how to make sure it stays quiet… Depending on how much you want to spend, you could also make it go away. There are people you could bribe… But it would have to be all you. I cannot be involved in this in any way, shape or form. I am sure Father could help, if you went to him." She licked her lips. "I would advise against doing any of that though."

"Why not?" her sister asked, sitting straighter, turning a little to face her. "If the charges disappear…"

"The charges won't disappear, they will just have gone away." Effie countered. "They will get him out on a technicality or something like that… And even if you manage to have his records purged clean… There are always people out there who will know. Now, some of them will happily keep quiet for money but not everyone is so easily bought. At best, you are exposing yourself to a lifelong blackmail. At worst, if the bribing comes to light, you will be considered an accomplice. Consider what that would mean for the boys if you are both arrested and convicted."

Lyssa seemed lost. "The lawyer said…"

"Is he your lawyer or his lawyer, Lyssa?" she interrupted. "Because in that kind of cases, it is always better if the wife sticks by her husband, do you understand? All the more so if they are aiming to get the charges dismissed."

Her sister looked at her long and hard. "Can you be my lawyer?"

Effie shook her head. "Law was my minor degree. I never practiced, that would not be a good idea. I can recommend some, though." She was itching, as it was, to have one of Seeder's people sent up for a consult…. She knew the law, true, but her main focus had always been communication and political science with a short byline by advertisement… She wasn't qualified to speak as a lawyer would. "And in the meantime, I can do what I do best and advise you on how to weather this storm. Because, make no mistake, it will be a storm. Medias always love it when a politician gets heat and he is my brother-in-law so…"

Lyssa made a face. "You are going to be in trouble over this, won't you?"

"Trouble, I do not think so. Hot waters, perhaps." Effie acknowledged but dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "I can handle it. Let's focus on you. The next steps depend on what you want to do…"

Lyssa took a deep breath, held it for a long time as she thought… "The children…"

"The children will be fine either way, Lyssa. We will make sure they are." she promised. "Think about what you want…"

"He went to a prostitute. Several times." her sister snapped. "What do you think I want?"

"I need you to tell me." she insisted. "And I think you need to hear yourself say it out loud."

Lyssa shot her a glare but she was far too defeated to put up much of a fight. "I want to leave him."

Effie made an effort not to look too gleeful. "Good. So, now, the next step is…"

The door to the suite was carelessly flung open and Haymitch strode in, shirt unbuttoned, his hands busy unbuckling his belt… "Sweetheart, I'm here! We've got to be quick 'cause…"

He was looking down and only spotted the two gaping women a beat too late. His face brightened when he saw Effie but it quickly turned to embarrassment when he noticed Lyssa. He froze, his hands still holding the undone belt…

She supposed it was a small mercy he hadn't had time to unzip his pants yet.

"So…" he said, his accent thick like always when he felt awkward. "Guess early lunch wasn't a secret code for… You know… The baby making thing." He winced, his cheeks flushed, the tips of his ears burning red. "Cause last week it was, so you can see how that'd be confusing…" He cleared his throat and buckled his belt back, looking anywhere but at them. "Hi, Lyssa."

"Hello, Mr President." Lyssa answered, sounding a little amused despite everything. Mostly, she sounded sad though and Haymitch immediately picked up on it.

"What's going on?" he asked, directing the question at Effie rather than at her sister, buttoning his shirt back up.

"Something I would rather you would not be involved with." she replied. "Could you please…"

"Why are you crying?" Haymitch insisted, forgetting his embarrassment to sit directly on the coffee table in front of Lyssa. "Are the boys okay?"

Lyssa wasn't crying, really… Her eyes were just very teary and she was clearly fighting off the urge to sob. Effie could relate. She didn't like crying in public either.

"The boys are fine." Effie assured him. She considered trying to send him back down again but… She would have to brief him at some point anyway, wouldn't she? She was going to have to say something at the press briefing. "Rufus was arrested. With a prostitute. There are evidence this was a regular thing."

Haymitch stared at her for a few seconds and then looked back at Lyssa, sympathetic. "Shit."

"Language." she chided automatically.

"Oh, no…" Lyssa half-laughed, half-sobbed. "I think this is the perfect way to sum it up."

"Are you leaving him?" he asked, patting her sister's knee. Effie tried not to be jealous. "Cause you should leave him. You deserve a lot better than this scumbag, sweetheart."

"We were just getting to that." Effie sighed.

"You were saying the next step was…" Lyssa prompted her, making an obvious effort to collect herself.

"It is a good thing you did not take care of his bail." she commented. "The next step is to publicly condemn him. I will take care of that during the press briefing and announce your decision to separate while I am at it…" She glanced at Haymitch but since he didn't protest her very inappropriate plan to use the Mansion's platform to tie up a personal issue, she soldiered on. It wasn't like they really had a choice anyway. People would ask and a no comment would only fuel the fire. She would address it, make it clear the subject was to be left alone after that statement and move on. "You need to make sure you are you beyond reproach in this. That's important. You need to have the higher moral ground. Is there any skeleton in your closet, Lyssa? I need to know now."

It was a futile question of course.

Lyssa had always been too good at being the perfect daughter, wife and mother to have time for hidden indiscretions. She shook her head no.

"Good." Effie approved. "I will ask Livia to do a piece with a few selected statements from you…" Livia would be glad to help, she knew. It was a juicy exclusive. "Now, for the more concrete steps… The house… Who does it belong to?"

Lyssa licked her lips again, slowly shaking her head. "I am not sure… We chose it together but Rufus took care of…"

"Give me my blue notepad, darling, please." she cut her off. Haymitch didn't realize immediately she was talking to him and, when he did, he startled a little at being referred to as darling in front of someone else. Too shocked to protest, he stood up and went in search of her trusty pad where she jolted down her to-do lists. "Oh, and while you are up… Would you, please, do something about the thermostat… It is far too hot in here…"

He rolled his eyes. "Told you last night… We put it any lower and you're gonna see polar bears dancing around…"

"It is rather chilly…" Lyssa commented.

Effie pursed their lips at them both. "I am trying to get pregnant here."

"Won't get pregnant by turning us into penguins." Haymitch muttered but still went to lower the temperature.

Effie, meanwhile, had already dialed Peeta's number. "Yes, hello, dear… I need you to try and check a house deed for me. I need it to be discreet so maybe ask Gale if he would help through Peacekeeper channels… Assuming you can lure him out of the break room, that is…"

She gave him Lyssa's address and hung up when he promised to call her right back.

"What happens if the house is in his name?" Lyssa asked, sounding tired.

"You take the boys and relocate to either our parents' house or my apartment…" she hummed, writing down a quick list on the pad Haymitch had just handed her. He sat in the armchair instead of back on the coffee table, which meant he was to her left and not anywhere near Lyssa anymore – she was happier with the sitting arrangement. "I am sure Father must have something somewhere that will be more suitable in the long run… Calling Father would actually be our second step…"

And, boy, was she looking forward to that conversation…

"Must we?" Lyssa winced, clearly anticipating the same difficulties she did.

"We must." she regretfully sighed. "Because he is a rational man who will be convinced by my arguments that it's the better outcome. And then he will make sure Mother does not ruin the whole thing for us."

"Mother will argue the Flavershym name will recover from a tiny sex scandal…" Lyssa whispered. "She would say I should just… Soldier through. Chin up, eyes bright…"

"Smile on." Effie finished for her, nodding. "The question is… Do you want to please Mother or live your own life?"

Haymitch was watching them both as if their dynamic was fascinating.

"I should have stopped at my therapist before coming to see you…" Lyssa mumbled.

"You can stop by once we have secured your freedom." she argued. "Next thing you need is an excellent lawyer."

"Can't we lend her one of ours?" Haymitch frowned. "Seeder'd…"

"We cannot publicly be too involved." Effie interrupted. "And by that I mean: I cannot publicly be more involved that complete support for her, you should not be involved at all. At no point are we using national resources to fix private matters and Seeder is on Panem's payroll." Haymitch looked as if he wanted to argue but when she lifted her hand, he actually stopped to listen. "I know a lot of good lawyers… Father knows even more… Lawyers are not the problem, here."

"What's the problem, then?" he asked.

"The Flavershyms." Lyssa and Effie said at the same time, in the same flat tone.

Effie nodded. "They won't sit idly by while their son is dragged through the mud and his wife asks for divorce… I want them in the dark as long as possible, which means we have to act fast…" She checked her phone. "The ball needs to be rolling in forty-five minutes because that is all the time we have before the press briefing."

Haymitch relaxed in the armchair. "So it's one of those times when you pull a miracle out of your ass, yeah?"

He sounded nonchalant, very confident she would in fact manage it…

Peeta called back right at this moment and she wasn't happy with what he had to say.

"The house belongs to Rufus. You had a pre-nup agreement, right?" she asked, clucking her tongue. "I will let the lawyer handle that. How much do you trust the Nanny? Is she loyal to you or Rufus?"

"Me." Lyssa answered without a moment of hesitation. "I am the one who hired her and I pulled a few strings and found a position for her sister so she could come over from Two… She is very grateful. I trust her one hundred percent."

"Call her. Tell her to pack a few bags with enough clothes and toys for the boys for a few days. A bag for you wouldn't go amiss either. Anything you can't bear to part with, I would advise you to add to the list." Effie ordered. "The jewelry. She should definitely pack the jewelry. Only the one you bought for yourself, though. We will need the receipts too."

Lyssa was clearly overwhelmed but Effie squeezed her shoulder. "No time to waver now, Lyssandra. Call the Nanny. I will call Father."

Lyssa looked grateful for small mercies and walked through the balcony doors to have some privacy. Effie glared at her own phone.

"What can I do, princess?" Haymitch asked, softly, gently tugging on the hem of her skirt. The only thing he could reach from the armchair.

"Ask Plutarch to have lunch with the Flavershyms." she answered after a moment of hesitation. Ideally, she would have loved it if no one at the Mansion had been involved at all but… "He knows them well." He knew everyone in the city well. "They won't be suspicious and that means they won't see the press briefing immediately. It will delay their answer long enough for our lawyer to work some magic…"

"What can they do?" he scoffed. "I mean… He was arrested, she's divorcing him… There's not a lot…"

"They can go for the children." she interrupted. "They can ask for sole custody for Rufus. Lyssa won't. And, honestly, he is not a bad father. I would not want him cut off from their life either. But the Flavershyms are ruthless and divorce?" She scoffed. "You simply do not divorce in my social circle, Haymitch. At worst, you separate." She shook her head. "I need to call Father. Can you ask Plutarch if he will help?"

"Sure." He stood up and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm downstairs if you need me. I'm gonna tell your boy to warn the press pool the briefing's gonna be delayed a little 'cause you're in an urgent meeting with someone from Five… If they ask, bullshit them about the dam. That should buy you half an hour."

"Thank you." She was grateful for his support. She truly was.

Now if her father could have been half as cooperative.

It took her ten minutes alone to finally get a hold of him. Four calls to his phone were sent to voicemail, two calls to his private secretary were met with the argument that he was in a meeting and couldn't be disturbed… She called his phone three more times. It was ringing so he must have been cutting off the calls every time… Annoyed, she called the secretary back and, when the woman started apologizing again, she lost her temper.

"Do you truly think I have time to waste and I would be calling if it weren't an emergency?" she snapped. "Get him out of that reunion by any means necessary or I swear he will fire you once I finally get a hold of him. And if getting a hold of him mean sending a Peacekeepers squad to drag him back to the Mansion, then so be it."

She only had to wait a minute after that for her Father to call her back.

"This better be urgent, Euphemia, I am in the middle of a delicate negotiation right now." was the only greeting she got.

"If I tell you your son-in-law has been caught with a prostitute, that he has been arrested, that there are proofs of more illegal activities on his part and that I am about to go live and publicly denounce it all, does that seem urgent to you, Father?" she retorted.

There was a very long silence and then he cleared his throat. "How serious are the charges? Because if you are about to take on the President of Panem out of spite and jealousy, Effie, I…"

"What?" She was so surprised she actually gaped. Then she recovered and she grew even angrier than she already was. She could see Lyssa pacing outside, nervously hugging herself with her free arm as she kept talking to the nanny, hopefully telling her exactly what to pack. "It is Rufus who has been arrested, Father. Haymitch would never."

"Rufus." Tadius repeated, not sounding surprised at all. "I see. Is there any chance we can make it quietly go away? Not on your end, naturally. You cannot be involved in any of this."

At least, there was a rational person in her family who realized what her position entailed… She probably should have been grateful for this.

"We are past all that, Father." she dismissed. "Lyssa is leaving him. We are going for divorce so we need a safe place for her to stay, the best lawyer you currently have on your payroll and you need to control Mother."

"Control your mother… Is that all?" he scoffed. "Euphemia, this is disproportionate. Let me talk to Lyssa, I will…"

"You will not convince her to stay with him." she hissed. "You know just as well as I do that if they find more on Rufus, this is her one clear shot of getting out of it unblemished. She will get dragged into it. His lawyer is already trying to screw her over, Father."

"Mind your language, Effie." Tadius scolded.

"She is your favorite daughter." she reminded him. "And we do not have time to argue over this. The decision has been made. Now, it will be considerably easier for my career with you handling it instead of me but do not think for one second I will let her down." She stubbornly jutted her chin up. "Is that truly what you want for your favorite daughter, Father? For her to stay shackled to a man she's unhappy with? Who cheats on her with prostitutes? And there are the boys to consider too, I will remind you."

There was only silence at the other end of the line.

Effie's voice turned begging and she didn't even care that she sounded like a child. "Father, he will toss her under the buss if it means saving his own skin. You know this."

"I will have Leo handle it immediately." he sighed and she sagged in relief at the sound of his lawyer's name. "Lyssa and the boys should come to our house as fast as possible. I will meet her there. I will also make sure Elindra is not a problem..." He clucked his tongue once. "On your end… Make a statement, announce the divorce, make her look good…"

"Yes, thank you. I know how to do my job." she huffed.

"I know you do." Tadius answered, sounding genuine enough. "Come to dinner tonight. I suspect a family meeting will be in order."

That was a small concession so she agreed.

"And, Effie…" he said, just as she was about to hang up. "Lyssandra is not my favorite daughter."

The line rang dead before she could say anything or even process that statement.

Soooooooooo Lyssa would NOT be Tadius' fav in this verse? SHOCKING. Do you think Lyssa's resolution will hold? Will Elindra be a pain? What do you think? Let me know!