LN Cronan

 Here's the sad thing -- Elizabeth Vidal DID believe the professionals over her own child. She failed him utterly. In my opinion, she is a self-centered woman who put financial security ahead of everything else by letting her rich husband call all the shots. And I think she gave up Gideon as a lost cause, switching her attention to raising the two biological children of her rich husband.  No wonder Gideon doesn't love her. It bugs her a lot too. Maybe some of it is guilt, but I'll bet a part of it is her still believing there's something wrong with Gideon, not with her. Look at the martyr act Elizabeth Vidal pulls when Eva gets in her face about what a bad mother she was.

 Agree, GiGi. Alas though, in our country, insurance companies, who are in it to make a profit, hate paying for specialists. Make a huge stink about specialist referrals. Hospitals/clinics are there to make profits too. And doctors are in it to make a living off what the insurance companies and their patients pay.  So unfortunately, there is a great deal of general practioners handling stuff that specialists really ought to. The vast, vast, VAST majority of prescriptions for antidepressants in the United States are written by family doctors, not psychiatrist. Sad (bad pun not intended there). Most people who suffer from depression end up with pills from their primary, not full evaluation by a psychiatrist. And most people who do get therapy get it from psychologist, including those with lesser degrees than PhD.  Because down here, the medical system is private and for profit. I hate it!!

 Oh Gideon most certainly IS pursuing these childhood injustices, now that he is a man. But not through any officials channels. He's been getting even himself.  Dr. Lucas? Slept with his wife and broke her heart. Revenge for alienating Gideon from his family. Stepfather? Got financial control of the man's company and now holds the power to ruin the man on a whim if he wants. Revenge for Vidal Sr. using his money to control Gideon's mother and medical professionals he paid for when Gideon was a helpless, hurt boy. Mom? Hardly will even speak to the woman. Which hurts her a great deal. Revenge for her having not stood by him as a kid.   We don't even know yet what Gideon did to the man who raped him as a kid. I'll bet it's nasty though, and I'm sure we'll find out in Entwined. But it would NOT have been murder. Gideon didn't kill Nathan for revenge -- he did it to save Eva's life from a dangerous maniac.

Something that just occurred to me GiGi about why we're both talking about such big differences in how Gideon was treated medically ...... Â ..... in your country, you have universal health. Essentially the government runs the medical system, much like it runs the school system. Â Down here in the United States, we have universal education for children (free education up to grade 12). But our health system most certainly is not run by our government, unfortunately. It's privately run. Which really, quite frankly, s**** for we patients everywhere. Â Certainly, there are some government regulations that say what professionals must -- and especially what they must NOT -- do. But the government does not have absolute control over everything. Because the government isn't paying the bills. The insurance companies and the patients themselves are paying. Most medical facilities are for-profit. Doctors are for-profit too. And the drug stores most certainly are for profit. GiGi you would weep to see the prices at our pharmacies, and the bind that people who do not have health insurance are in.

Rock on!!! Eventually Eva saw right through Lucas. Just like she saw right through Corrine. Â Both of them tried playing on Eva's insecurities, and both caught her when she was vulnerable. So for a while, she wondered. But she's stronger than that, so in the end she made up her own mind. And took Gideon's side on all of it -- against Lucas, against Corrine, against his mother.

Up in Canada, you folks have a kinder, gentler system. It's a bit more brutal down here. Some things are the same here in the U.S. but other things are different.  Psychiatrists are medical doctors. That's true around the world. However, in the United States, some mental health professionals who are neither medical doctors nor PhD psychologists are qualified to formally diagnose someone as mentally ill. And to treat them. The only form of treatment exclusively in the hand of medical doctors is prescribing drugs. Other forms of treatment can be administered by lesser-qualified professionals. Of course the Vidals should have had the best-qualified people treating Gideon. There's a lot of things they should have done but did not. Because they used money to get around "the system" and failed the kid utterly. If the authorities found out Dr. Lucas did not report mere accusations of child abuse, well then yes, he could lose his license. But as for the rest of it? Nope. The doctoral candidate mis-diagnose? Not Lucas' fault. And not anything he'd even get in trouble for. Dr. Lucas put Gideon on meds himself? He's a doctor, he can do that. Especially because he's a pediatrician, he can put the child Gideon on drugs himself. We do have strict privacy laws in the United States about medical records, but they're not as strict as they are in some other nations.

Hey GiGi, we most certainly agree Elizabeth Vidal would drive some hard bargains to make sure her husband provided for her and all three of her biological children: Gideon, Christopher and Ireland. But my point is that she'd have to persuade/coerce him actually do this. Â Once he's dead, the only -- and absolute -- thing that would apply are the terms of his will. Which he was never obligated to show her beforehand. And which he could change behind her back any time he wanted. If he were dead and she suddenly found out he left her very little and left Gideon nothing, it would be tough luck. She would have no standing whatsoever to go to court to change that. If the will is properly executed (and a rich man with a large estate would have good lawyers to make certain it was) she would absolutely no choice but to accept whatever he had decided. Â That, unfortunately, is the way probate court works in the United States. If a will is properly written (i.e. executed) it and it alone is the set of rules for dividing up whatever the deceased owned.

Can I engage in a little Corrine bashing before I go offline for tonight? Magdalene's been getting too much attention today. Time to concentrate on the real rival determined to make Eva pull a permanent runner. Â Many posters believe here that Gideon is not actively leading Corrine on; instead, she's just assuming they're going somewhere. Personally I think he's doing more than just letting her assume, but for the sake of temporary devil's advocate, I'll say that at the time Reflected ends, Gideon is still feeling a little guilty about poor Corrine still being in love. Â How's that going to change when Gideon finds out from Eva the full extent of the stunt Corrine pulled that morning? Because if Eva believed 100% he was in that apartment and had just finished f****** Corrine, Eva never would have gotten into the car with him later than morning. He'd have never gotten that unexpected lucky break to finally do something that convinced her to "wait."Â Â Because Eva wasn't on her sudden crusade in order to win him back, like he probably hoped. She was doing it to lash out at the people who had helped damage Gideon so badly the two of them never worked out. Eva had already decided she and Gideon were over. Because his past had so damaged him that he would never let her in. The reason she got into that car was mostly, now that she finally had a chance to talk to him, to inform him she had already moved on. He took a huge chance by opening up -- and it worked. He finally got a promise she would "wait" for him to come back to her. Â Corrine could have caused Eva to pull the permanent runner of all less than an hour before Gideon got his shot to get Eva to talk with him that morning. Because Eva would have believed he'd spent the whole night with Corrine -- slept alongside her -- in Corrine's own bed, not simply had a one-night stand at the hotel. Remember, Gideon got caught getting into his car with Corrine after work the night before. Not that Corrine knew Eva spotted that. But Gideon most certainly did. And Eva got mad too - flipped him off. Â The only obstacle Gideon ever had to marrying Corrine, sharing a home (and thus bed) with Corrine is gone. Eva thought Gideon had been too much of a coward to break up with Eva before the party at the hotel -- she told him as much when she broke up with him. She'd think, because of Corrine, he was too much of a coward to come to Corrine's door to tell Eva to leave. He made Corrine do it instead. So Eva wouldn't even have listened to him later that morning. She'd be convinced he was a coward and a liar who'd been f***** Corrine less than an hour before. She'd probably slap his face if he tried to get her to talk to him. Â So if his guilt over Corrine is replaced with rage at what would have happened if Eva had believed Corrine's dirty trick, Gideon no longer will have any hesitation to coldly use Corrine moving forward. It is clear now Corrine is actively trying to destroy Gideon's relationship with Eva by driving Eva away forever.

If Christopher Vidal Sr. died first, his estate is divided up the way he decided in his will. Elizabeth gets to automatically keep only what she owns outright (like her personal valuables) plus anything they owned jointly (like a house in both their names -- and that's if Christopher even put her name on the deed when he bought the place). That's it for what she is actually entitled to - things that are flat-out her's plus anything her rich husband put in both their names. Â She does not automatically anything else, especially his own personal fortune he had long before he married her. She doesn't even automatically get any possession he owns outright, like his car if it's registered just in his name, or the $50,000 watch he probably wears. She's not entitled to anything that's solely in his name or is an outright personal possession of his. He and he alone got to decide beforehand, when he wrote his will, what she does and does not get that belongs to him. He can decide to leave all of it, some of it, or none of it to her. He could leave every cent instead to his kids, and cut her off with none of his own fortune, if he wanted. He could leave all of his shares in Vidal Records to his son, Christopher Jr., and she has no say. He could leave a huge trust fund to Ireland, and again Elizabeth has no say. He could (likely would) not leave a single thing to Gideon.

Regarding inheritance laws in the United States, offspring are not automatically entitled to anything. In cases where a parent dies without leaving a will, usually the estate will be divided up in equal shares. It's up to the courts to decide. But in the case of parents who do write wills -- and the very rich always have wills, some of them very complicated estate planning arrangements to lessen the tax blow of inheritance taxes -- the people making the wills have sole discretion on who gets what. Or does not get anything. Rich parents can disinherit kids. Or spouses.  In the Vidal marriage, the money belongs to Vidal Sr. Whatever valuables Elizabeth has, they're things he paid for. If he wants, he can leave her without a cent when he dies. Same deal with his biological kids - they could get nothing if that's what he decided. He could leave every cent to charity if he wanted.  My guess: his will leaves the bulk of his fortune to Christopher Jr. and Ireland, with probably a healthy chunk for his widow. He'd leave Gideon absolutely nothing. So if Gideon weren't the self-made rich man he is, he'd face a future without financial wealth.  In fact, technically as soon as Gideon turned age 18, Gideon's mother and her husband were no longer legally obligated to provide any necessities any longer. They no longer had to pay for a roof over his head, food to eat, clothes on his back, medical care -- nothing. They could have thrown him onto the street. When he was a minor, they had to keep him and provide basics. And he had to live with them. At 18, he's a man. He can move out if he wants. They can refuse to pay another cent to support him if they want.  Of course they didn't throw him out. That would look very bad socially. It also would look bad socially if they failed to send him to a good college. It's likely they paid the tuition for Columbia University. It's obvious Gideon moved out of the Vidal mansion soon after he became an adult. My guess: even though Columbia is right in New York City, Gideon probably moved into the dorms as a freshman then eventually maybe an apartment. His parents might have been giving him "board" as well, in other words paying for tuition plus a place to live plus enough money to cover bills. Not for his own benefit. But because Christopher Sr. would look bad cutting off his stepson. And Elizabeth probably wouldn't have let him anyway. It may be all his money, but she has a say.  P.S. My guess is Gideon's own will (he'd certainly have one) leaves the bulk of his fortune to charities. If he died in a plane crash or car accident tomorrow, some charities for child abuse victims and shelters for abused women would get a LOT of money. He's probably left healthy bequests to various people he cares about. I'm sure Angus would get a lot of money in thanks for his loyalty. Gideon may have made provisions in his will for Ireland. As for his mother? Doubt it. As for his stepfather and stepbrother? Not a single cent, I'll bet.

Hiya GiGi! Â Quick couple of things (here I go with my knowledge of various areas of United States law.) Â The nature of Geoffrey Cross' financial crimes would have left his widow and child with nothing. Absolutely nothing. Every cent the man had was stolen by defrauding investors. Anything left in accounts would be seized by the government and eventually used to help pay back victims at least a little, whatever the government could recover. Even every valuable possession the couple owned, husband and wife, would be seized and ultimately auctioned off. Because all of it was bought with stolen money obtained by fraud. Â This is what happened in the real-life criminal case of Bernie Madoff, the biggest Ponzi schemer ever to get caught. Here's a strange (and sad) true story: when authorities showed up with court paperwork to physically throw Mrs. Madoff out of the couple's New York City showplace apartment, Mrs. Madoff went to get a coat of the closet to wear as she left. It was a fur coat. She was told she couldn't take it. They forced her to pick a cloth coat. Talk about harsh. Her furs went on the auction block, along with her jewelry, every valuable thing in that apartment. Plus the very apartment itself was sold. The money went to the government, which divided up what it could to the victims Madoff defrauded. Â How do you think Christopher Vidal Sr. got his stunning wife so quickly? She was desperate - and he had money. She's have married the first rich guy who asked. Why does she stay in the marriage? Same deal - money. It's all her husband's money. She lost everything she had when her first husband got caught.

It just occurred to me that soon after Magdalene accidentally walked in on Gideon and Eva in the library, Christopher walked right in -- I'll bet on purpose. While Gideon and Eva were still wrapped around one another. Because Christopher stayed and started talking to Gideon, and her asked Eva if everything was OK. Gideon finally got him to leave. Â What a creep!!!!! How much you wanna bet Magdalene came running out of the house in tears, Christopher spotted her and asked her what was going on, she told him what had just happened, and Christopher decided to go see for himself. Maybe in the hopes of interrupting Gideon reconciling with Eva. Or at least interrupt some hot sex Gideon was getting. Â And maybe left the library so h**** that he immediately found Magdalene and led her away to a private spot for some "comfort." If big brother Gideon was getting some action at the party, well Christopher needed to get some too. Â If this is true, it was just deserts that soon after, he got secretly videotaped by someone (Cary) who sent it to Eva, and then Gideon found out, and ultimately Magdalene found out. It'd be neat if in Entwined, Eva and/or Gideon got to throw the tape's existence in Christopher's face. To the best of Eva's knowledge (and thus our knowledge) Christopher doesn't yet know the tape even exists, let alone who shot it and who has seen it.

::: blushing :::

See pages 240 to 242 of Reflected. Eva, at the hospital spending time with Cary, is in the cafeteria taking a break. Dr. Lucas spots her there and talks to her. This is where he throws out the narcissist sociopath diagnosis he himself probably helped make on Gideon years ago. Then Lucas throws onto the pile an adult diagnosis of misogynist (a man who pathologically hates women and is inclined to abuse them). This second diagnosis is based purely on what Gideon did to Lucas' wife, Anne (which actually WAS emotionally abusive, though motivated by revenge, not misogyny.) Lucas is surprised Eva knows a little bit about what happened between Gideon and Anne. That Eva knows about Anne and still stayed with Gideon causes Lucas to be even more concerned. And Lucas poisons Eva's mind into thinking that maybe Gideon is emotionally manipulating and abusing Eva too. Sad thing is that Lucas caught Eva at a very vulnerable moment when in fact, Gideon WAS mentally/emotionally manipulating her in a way that was deliberately hurting her. At the very time Lucas caught Eva off guard, Gideon WAS engaging in a form of emotional abuse against Eva. This was in the middle of the week he was planning to kill Nathan. This was driven by his plan to save her life by leaving her side, even driving her away, but keeping her in the dark about why he was doing it. To protect both of them from the cops. It wasn't misogyny. But that doesn't diminish the fact Gideon was hurting her in a way that made Lucas' poison words ring true.

Magdalene may have known of Gideon in grade school and/or high school, if the Vidal and Perez families were close even back then. But I doubt Gideon would have been friends with her -- or with any of the other kids. Here are some thoughts why:  Gideon was an angry kid being bullied in school. This would have made him one of the unpopular kids. And a loner. I can't see the social-climbing Magdalene hanging out with an unpopular loner. I can see her hanging out with popular kids, like the jocks. She's a gorgeous woman, so I can see her as a gorgeous teen with her pick of the boys. I can also see her hanging out with the richest boys with the best social prospects. Gideon had no financial prospects at the time he was young. Gideon was simply Vidal Sr.'s stepson that Vidal had to take in order to get the mother. He wasn't a biological Vidal (and thus not an heir to the the family.) Nor did he have any trust funds of his own -- he would have been left penniless by his late father. Even within his own family, he's considered a f*** up. Why would the Vidal friends the Perez family even care about him? As for social prospects, at the time Gideon would have been stigmatized when a kid and later a teen. He was Gideon Cross, carrying the shameful Cross name from the notorious Geoffrey Cross, his biological father who was a major crook that killed himself. I wonder whether it wasn't until Gideon was college age and dating Corrine that he got Magdalene's notice for the first time. Corrine is described as a very beautiful woman, and kind in a way that would have made her popular. Magdalene might have wondered what was so special about the guy that a woman like Corrine wanted him. Plus, Gideon and Corrine side by side are a physically stunning pair. His own good looks would have been magnified. Maybe at this point, Magdalene develops physical attraction to Gideon. But still, there's those pesky financial and social stigma issues while he's still a college kid. It wasn't until he was into his early 20s and had graduated from (or dropped out of) Columbia University that Gideon first started getting rich. Now he's got financial prospects, which would make him financially attractive on top of physically attractive to Magdalene. Once he got really insanely rich, he became a celebrity, which is the ultimate social attractiveness that would make him attractive to practically all women -- most especially socially ambitious ones.. He could have been ugly as sin and still had women lined up to snag him. And the women were lined up. Now by age 28, Gideon's got everything Magdalene could ever desire in a husband. And he's single. The only potential rival for his affection, Corrine is gone -- she dumped Gideon, married some rich guy (probably before Gideon got really rich himself) and lives in Europe. Gideon gives Magdalene the social spotlight of her being a regular trophy date of a celebrity. Obviously, eventually he's going to need a trophy wife. He's definitely approaching an age (late 20s) where the time to settle down has come.  So in summary:  Grade school and high school Gideon = pariah and loner. College age Gideon = physically attractive enough to win a gorgeous girlfriend. Early 20s Gideon = getting rich and now financially attractive on top of physically. Late 20s Gideon = insanely rich guy who is a celebrity. He's got it ALL: the best social standing, the most money, and he's seriously hawt. Best of all, He's SINGLE. Soon he needs to have more than just trophy dates to take out in public. He needs to settle on one to become his trophy wife. One last thing: Magdalene was not the ONLY woman Gideon was photographed with. When Cary gave Eva a dossier he'd assembled the afternoon of Eva's first date with Gideon, she saw he was photographed with lots of women. Magdalene just happened to be the most frequent, so frequent that Eva noticed. So Magdalene must fooled herself into thinking she was at the head of the race to the altar to become Mrs. Gideon Cross.

Something just clicked for me on how it was Dr. Lucas "alienated" Gideon from his family. Maybe together with the "male doctoral student" they together formally diagnosed young Gideon as "narcissistic sociopath" and the Vidals bought it, hook, line and sinker. Â Based in part of what Lucas, a physician whose specialty is children, told the Vidals, Gideon's own mother (not to mention her second husband)Â concluded that Gideon was a seriously defective kid, and he got treated as such throughout the rest of his teens. And Dr. Lucas put young Gideon on psych meds the Vidals forced him to take. Here's my theories ...... The male doctoral candidate made the formal diagnosis in order to bolster the argument Gideon was so messed up that stunts he would pull for attention including lying about being sexually abused. The doctoral candidate made the diagnosis to cover himself that Gideon wasn't lying, and Dr. Lucas backed the guy up. As a pediatrician, Lucas is medically qualified to diagnose suspected mental illness, qualified enough to give clear reason for referring a young patient to mental health specialists. Even qualified enough to diagnose what the suspected illness is (for example, ADHD, depression, autism spectrum, etc.) He's supposed to send a kid to a specialist qualified to make a full, formal diagnosis of what the pediatrician suspects. As a "doctoral student" studying for a PhD, the guy already had enough psychology degrees (bachelor's, master's) to be a mental health specialist qualified to actually diagnose conditions. One does not have to be "Dr." to formally diagnose mental illness. A bachelor's degree in psychology is enough to qualify a person as a psychologist. "Dr." simply means the professional is very highly educated (either a PhD in psychology or even a full-blown medical doctor who is a specialist in psychiatry.) I wonder whether in response to all this too, Gideon was made to take psychiatric medication as a kid. The doctoral student would be qualified to make the diagnosis, but not qualified to prescribe drugs. Dr. Lucas as a physician IS qualified to prescribe drugs. Yes, yes, I know it should have bee a psychiatrist writing the scrips. But we all know that too often, family practicioners write scripts instead. So if my theories are true, Lucas helped seal the deal that Gideon's own mother thought he was seriously disturbed. And in a way now, he was at that point in his childhood disturbed -- he's got full-blown PTSD from having been brutally raped. Maybe forced to take medication. He's an OUTCAST in his own family. That is "alienated."

Good morning, AMC!!! Magdalene's inside knowledge of Gideon's history with Corrine strongly suggests Magdalene knew him, and probably knew Corrine too, when they were engaged. Maybe Magdalene even knew them in college, when Gideon and Corrine first began dating. Gideon and Corrine both went to Columbia University, where Gideon met Corrine when he was a freshman. Or should I say Corrine chased him down when spotting the young hottie on campus. What if Magdalene also went to Columbia? Not that we have any indication Corrine and Magdalene ever made anything of their Ivy League educations. To our knowledge, both cling to rich men, not pursue their own careers. Still, growing up in privileged backgrounds, all of them (Magdalene, Corrine, Gideon himself) would be expected to attend at least four years of school at a top-notch (and thus very expensive) college or university. It is a social reflection upon their parents that the parents can afford to send their offspring to the very best schools. Even future trophy wives go to college. To major in what I like to call "pre-wed." They're in the best schools to make future social connections. Especially to find college sweethearts who can turn into husbands. That's what Corrine's goal had been with Gideon.

Last thought on Gideon's possible psychiatric history: I wonder whether he already suffered PTSD at the time he became Vidal's stepson. That he was severely traumatized by his father's suicide -- his PTSD began years before he got raped, something that definitely would have caused PTSD (or worsened existing PTSD). Â I'm not talking about merely the sudden loss of a parent. Maybe Gideon was home when his father shot himself, upon hearing the shot ran to investigate and saw his father's dead body, head blown off and blood/brain matter splattered everywhere. When a person uses a gun to commit suicide, he/she almost always does it in a private place, especially the home. Same deal with hanging one's self. To do so in a public place is to risk some stranger stopping the suicide. Gideon was five years old. Pre-elementary school age, which meant he wasn't yet in school fulltime during the week. Old enough to possibly register what he was seeing was someone shot. Certainly old enough to recognize blood. Maybe also by then learned what "dead" meant through the loss of a grandparent or even a pet. We know from hints of what Gideon told Eva that Gideon got into fights at school. He explained it away as bullying because of the stigma of being his father's son. Red herring? It was part, but only part, of the explanation. The full explanation for Gideon's grade-school age fighting was he got angry a lot because he had full-blown PTSD? It was his anger that prompted him to be the kid actually picking the fights, and that turned him into an unpopular kid others would then pick on? We know Entwined will take us to Gideon's dark places. Will this include him telling Eva the full backstory about why he was so out of control the Vidals put him into the treatment that resulted in him getting sexually abused? Remember, too, the reason the Vidals finally put Gideon into treatment as a very young teen most certainly wasn't for his benefit. It was because Gideon had become a bad influence on Christopher Jr., who was now imitating Gideon's physical outbursts, and putting too much strain on the pregnant Elizabeth Vidal carrying Ireland. Mr. I'll-Bet-He's-A-Rotten-Human-Being Christopher Vidal Sr. didn't shell out big $$$ for private treatment for the benefit of his messed-up stepson. He did it for the benefit of his trophy wife and his biological children.

Whatever mental health illnesses Gideon does not have, he most certainly does have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). So does Eva. It's the consequence of serious abuse suffered as a child. Most especially brutal repeated rapes. Both have the most common symptom of all: nightmares. The fact Eva can almost be triggered while conscious too indicates she may have flashbacks. Anger is another common symptom of PTSD. Think about another group of people who commonly suffer from PTSD - combat veterans. They have nightmares. Many of them have anger issues too. Some of them with more severe cases suffer flashbacks. Eva used to have anger issues bad enough that her Dad, when she was living out in San Diego, sent her to treatment/counseling (Dr. Travis, where she entered group therapy.) Eva's Dad obviously didn't know about the rape history, but Dr. Travis (who insisted on complete honesty from his "kids") would have known. And treated her. Certainly, Cary knew all about it, and that's where she and Cary met: in group therapy with Dr. Travis. She's made some progress, because amongst the things she quit doing after being treated was one of the sexual behaviors some childhood rape victims with PTSD engage in - being promiscuous. It stems from low self-esteem. Eva was at her worst when she was throwing herself at Brett and settling for scraps. She herself recognized this, which was a factor in her finally not wanting to settle for being just another groupie, one Brett f***** in a bathroom stall between sets at concerts. She was already starting to reconsider her position when something Brett did was the final straw that made her pull one of Eva's Famous Runners. She overheard Brett talking about -- and laughing about -- her to his band's drummer. Her Dad knew about the anger and knew a little bit about her being "wild." He knew in passing about at least two boyfriends he disapproved of, because this fact is mentioned in Bared to You. One was a rock singer (note: this was our tiny first red flag in Bared about Brett, whom we'd meet in Reflected.) Plus there was an incident when her Dad out on police patrol pulled over a guy who turned out to be Eva's boyfriend at the time. The guy was getting a b*** job from some other woman while driving. Gideon's PTSD involves a sexual symptom too -- that he violently acts out in some nightmares, including attacking bed partners. It's unusual, but not unknown. Dr. Petersen started treating Gideon for it through a combination of sleep medication and starting therapy.

Good morning, ladies of our active book club!  Re: Gideon's psychiatric diagnosis and misdiagnosis, past and present. I'm wondering whether Dr. Lucas AND the "male doctoral student" labeled young Gideon as having personality disorders (borderline, narcissist, etc.) Some of Gideon's symptoms, especially the physical angry outburst, could count toward several conditions, including personality disorders. But the anger issues ALONE do not qualify. Probably didn't stop one or both men though from slapping the wrong label on the kid.  Lucas' medical specialty is pediatrics, not child psychiatry. Pediatricians are the primary care doctors of children, and they're the ones who almost always refer young patients to specialists. Including child psychologist/psychiatrists. In medical school, Lucas would have had classes cover the basics and warning signs of various possible illnesses which needed referral to specialists, including mental illness in young patients. Lucas was NOT fully qualified to make the diagnosis himself, but he did possess enough medical expertise to diagnose suspected mental illness.  "Doctoral student" indicates the man was studying for a PhD. So he's already possess both a bachelor's and master's degree. The master's especially would qualify him to diagnose and treat SOME mental illnesses. One does not need to have the title "Dr." to treat mental patients. A "Dr." is the most highly trained in terms of formal education. But lower levels of college degrees do allow people to work in the mental health field. Including counseling patients.  Something to point out here is the confusion people have about the title "Dr." in the mental health field meaning "psychiatrist." It can also mean "psychologist." There is a very important difference between the two, though it's pretty common for many people to not differentiate between the two. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor whose specialty is diagnosing and treating mental illness. All psychiatrists are called "Dr." In terms of formal training, a psychiatrist is the most highly qualified of all the mental health professionals. He or she has been through medical school and then gone through additional years of study and training to become a medical specialist. And like any physician, these doctors can write drug prescriptions. They also supervise lower-level professionals who have some limited power to prescribe drugs (like nurse practicioners). When psychiatric drugs are used to treat a patient, a psychiatrist is directly or indirectly involved.A Dr. who is a psychologist is a person who has a PhD degree in psychology. Anyone with a PhD degree is some field is called "Dr." because that is the honorary title given to someone with a PhD degree. Just look around a college faculty list -- Dr. this in history, Dr. that in economics. They're called Dr. but they are something other than physicians.Bottom line: all psychiatrists have the title "Dr." because they literally are doctors. Not all psychologists are called "Dr." -- only the ones with PhDs. The ones with only bachelors and masters degrees are regular psychologists. Psychologists of all education levels can treat many mental health illnesses. especially by administering therapy. Indeed, most therapists are psychologists.One last thing worth noting: I'm certain Dr. Petersen (who treats Gideon, Eva and Eva's mother) is a psychiatrist. The fact that Gideon left his very first appointment with a prescription for sleep medication indicates Petersen is a medical doctor. Plus he treats very rich patients. Psychiatrists are the most expensive of the mental health professionals, so the professionals who treat the rich are almost always psychiatrists -- their patients can afford them. Psychiatrists who treat the rich are especially attractive to wealthy patients who want to pay out of pocket instead of getting a medical insurer involved. Medical claims leave paper trails that later follow around any patient. Monica, deeply ashamed of what happened to her daughter and having all the past paperwork made secret, most certainly wouldn't want the new paper trail of psychiatric treatment for her own guilt/anxiety issues stemming from that. It's reasonable to assume too that Gideon paid out of pocket for both individual and couples therapy. He most certainly would not want any sort of paper trail about his own sexual history. Several hundred bucks a session is not even pocket change for someone worth $12.5 billion bucks.

Even if the Lucas marriage did survive the affair, she'd avoid social gatherings where there was a chance Gideon Cross would be there. That fundraiser dinner was for a women's shelter. Gideon wholeheartedly supports charities for sexually abused children (he even gave a speech at the fundraiser the night he took Eva to it as their first date.) It would make sense he'd strongly support charities for women's shelters too, because when women do seek emergency shelter, they often bring their children with them. Â Dr. Terry Lucas is a pediatrician. My guess is professionally, he was involved with the women's shelter (perhaps doing some volunteer work tending to medical needs of children living with their mothers in the emergency shelter.) This could explain why he was at the fundraiser dinner -- not as someone there "paying for a plate" (making a contribution in return for a seat at dinner.) An alternate explanation could be he was there as a volunteer drumming up even more support by talking with the rich people about some of the things he's seen the shelter do to make a huge difference in the lives of children whose mothers finally fled with them from an abusive household. Â Even more important is that the working conspiracy theory I have about Lucas' link to the sexual abuse of Gideon would indicate Lucas did not come from rich society. I suspect he was one of the two pediatricians who Gideon's stepfather paid to privately examine Gideon -- and was paid off to keep his mouth shut. To not report the mere suspicions to outside authorities that Lucas was legally obligated to. Perhaps even seriously bribed to lie to Elizabeth Vidal. Doing the math from Eva's Google search about Lucas' age and how long he was married, the math comes out as Lucas in his late 20s (fresh out of medical school) and newly married. If he took out student loans to pay for medical school, he's be low six figures in debt. Someone like that offered enough money to wipe out that debt would be ripe for bribery.

Secretly videotaping Christopher and Magdalene is just the sort of thing Cary would do. My theory is this combo of factors prompted it:  On Eva's behalf, Cary has reason to resent Magdalene. The woman has sunk her catty claws into Cary's best friend. Cary has reason to be leery of Christopher. Even though Christopher did invite him (and Eva) to the party, it's likely Eva has mentioned to Cary that Gideon warned her to stay away from Christopher. (Indeed the reason Cary sent the sex tape to Eva the next day was to prove to her Christopher is a creep Eva needs to avoid.) I'll bet Magdalene and Christopher were furtive as they slipped away to that part of the estate grounds, something that would pique Cary's curiosity. Cary wouldn't be at all squeamish being a "peeping Tom." This is a guy who had a foursome in the middle of his living room. Part of the thrill of group sex is seeing others go at it. I'm sure Cary has done group sex before. We know of only one incident, and that's solely because Eva caught him in the middle of it when she came home unexpectedly early that night.

 It's safe to assume Magdalene grew up a socialite, because her mother is the best friend of Gideon's socialite mother, Elizabeth Vidal. "Ladies Who Lunch" (socialites) generally are friends only within their same social class. This is especially true of so-called trophy wives - women whose sole vocation is to devote themselves to their husbands in return for the financial security their husbands offer.  Eva's mother, Monica, clearly is a trophy wife - we know this from the wealth (pun intended) of background story information we have on her through the eyes of her daughter, Eva. We know less about Elizabeth Vidal, because Eva doesn't know a lot about her, but what we do know strongly suggests Elizabeth is a trophy wife.  Magdalene as Gideon's wife could (so Elizabeth hopes) help bridge the estrangement Gideon has from his family, an estrangement that really bothers Elizabeth.

Who wants to talk about how pathetic Magdalene versus Corrine is?  Magdalene, willing to stay for a long time (probably years) in a celibate social relationship with Gideon, in exchange for being his trophy date at society functions? Hoping that as soon as he's finished sleeping with a series of flings, he'll make her Mrs. Gideon Cross?  Corrine, who chased him all those years ago and then blew it on the engagement, now years later, starting back at square one with chasing the guy all over again. Hoping that because she's divorcing the guy she married on the rebound, he'll make her Mrs. Gideon Cross?  Both women still willing to settle for no-sex status even after knowing how sexual he is with Eva? Magdalene saw them going at it with her own eyes, and catty woman that she is, surely told Corrine.

Trey willing to settle for sloppy seconds if it will get Cary to stop sleeping with other women.  Magdalene willing to settle for Gideon sleeping plenty of other women while keeping her on "ice" if only he'll eventually upgrade her from society trophy date to society trophy wife.