Chapter 17 - briar glen’s review revealed failure without another conspiracy
I wanted Briar Glen destroyed.
That is the truth.
After reading the intake documents Marissa had built, I imagined an entire institution waiting eagerly to take frightened children from their homes.
Reality was less satisfying.
And more useful.
Their internal review found failures.
Serious ones.
Dana Mercer had accepted documents from Marissa even though Marissa was not Nora’s legal guardian.
She had permitted preliminary scheduling before directly verifying my authorization.
Staff had treated edited clips and typed summaries with too much credibility.
But they had not actually completed Nora’s admission.
They still required my confirmed signature.
No transport team had been legally authorized to take her without it.
Marissa had been dangerously close.
She had not finished.
That distinction mattered.
Briar Glen suspended Dana pending review.
Changed its intake verification procedures.
Required direct guardian confirmation before any transport discussion.
Added conflict checks when documentation came from a parent’s romantic partner rather than a legal guardian.
I wanted more.
I told Dad:
“They almost took her.”
Dad answered:
“Then make them fix what almost allowed it.”
“That’s not enough.”
“What do you want?”
I knew the answer.
A villain.
Another Marissa.
Someone I could hate cleanly.
Instead, the review showed a system that had trusted polished paperwork too quickly.
Bad.
Dangerous.
Fixable.
Not a coordinated plot.
Nora’s therapist eventually asked me:
“If Nora someday needs professional help, what do you want her to learn from this?”
“That professionals can be wrong.”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
I had no answer.
She supplied one.
“That professionals can also help.”
I hated that.
Because accepting it meant the lesson could not simply be:
Never trust organized people again.
That would have made Laurel’s warning into another rigid rule.
So I told Nora the truth.
“Briar Glen made mistakes.”
“Were they bad?”
“Some decisions were.”
“Were they with Marissa?”
“Not the way Marissa was.”
Nora thought.
“So Marissa tricked them too?”
“Partly.”
“And they should’ve checked?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
Simple.
Then:
“Like you.”
That one hurt.
May you like
“Yes.”
Like me.
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