GiGi

Hi LNCronan,

I read your posting and you are getting warmer. Your theory still hasn't accounted for Corinne's reactions to this entire situation. I stated before and I will state it again, that surely Corinne must have know that something was off between her and Gideon. If you recall from Gideon's perspective, sex between the two of them was lukewarm at best. Every time they were in together, Gideon couldn't wait to be away from her. Again I ask you, do you think that Corinne didn't notice Gideon's nonverbal communication. His actions must have spoken volumes with her.

If I recall, Gideon and Corinne were supposed to spend the weekend in the hotel together and not just sex. No sooner had they gotten to the hotel room, Gideon realized that he wasn't going to be able to spend an entire weekend with her. He made a lame excuse and left. Do you think that Corinne wasn't putting all these little incidents together?

I just one other quick observation to make. Throughout this relationship Gideon has allowed Eva to jump to the wrong conclusions each and every single time because of his lies of omission. Could it be that Gideon, yet again, allowed Eva to jump to the wrong conclusion about him having killed Nathan, in order to spare Eva more suffering? Maybe knowing that the real killer was her mother/or Stanton/or Clancy, etc. would be too painful for her to bear, so he let's her believe that it was him who killed Nathan? What do you think? What does everyone else think?

Hi LNCronan,

I read your postings and I think that both you and I have a difference of opinion when it comes to the word “intimateâ€. Intimate dinners are usually in a dark corner of a restaurant not out in the front of the restaurant window, on display for all to see. I also find it very interesting that no photographers spotted Gideon and Corinne canoodling…whatsoever.

A couple “in love†doesn’t care who sees them kissing and hugging, etc. The reader has not seen that type of interaction with these two characters. Yes I know that this simply a cover story, but again I assert that these actions cannot be lost on Corinne. Cover-up or not, common sense would dictate to Corinne that something is not right. Alpha male or not, why won’t this man kiss or her touch her in a loving embrace, etc? It is not like these two have not had sex before, so why keep up prudish appearances? That surely can’t help Gideon’s supposed alibi and the lack of affection couldn’t be boding well for Corinne. Is the reader left to believe that Corinne too will settle for whatever meager scraps she can get from Gideon too?

Another thing I find interesting is that Gideon is meeting Corinne in strictly public places; his office building, restaurants, and perhaps he has been picking Corinne up at her apartment (nothing is mentioned in the book-so the reader is left to wonder), but never at his apartment.

I also just wanted to confirm with you where you got the information about the Vodka party being at Gideon’s old f*** pad? I can’t remember reading that in the book.

What is left to confirm is just how deluded Corinne is? Again I state that on some level Corinne must know that Gideon doesn’t love her. She tried games the first time around and lost her engagement and Gideon, but has time taught her nothing? What do you think? What does everyone think?

Hi everyone,

I just had a thought…yes another thought. For those of you who have gone to graduate school or university; does it strike you as odd that the PhD Candidate accepted the offer to work with Gideon? No grad student, regardless of their area of study can counsel, conduct experiments, perform clinical examinations or offer clinical counseling sessions to a “patient†(in this case Gideon) without the expressed consent of the University’s Ethics Department firstly. Any graduate student wanting to conduct any kind of study or offer any kind of help to a patient has to apply for permission from the University’s Ethics Department. When graduate students are finished writing their thesis, they then have to apply to their department of study to argue their thesis. Any kind of counseling work would be offered on the University Campus through a specific clinic (ie. Elizabeth Vidal would have brought Gideon to said location for his counseling sessions). All university campus clinics have complete accident/malpractice insurance because they have students working with the general public. All students are considered a potential risk to the public so it is very important to establish stringent parameters from which students can work and learn from.

It is also important to remember that the grad student hadn’t graduated from his University program yet and hence wasn’t licensed. Therefore he would still have had to have a “Faculty Advisor†to guide him and make sure that he wasn’t making any mistakes and that he was following the appropriate course of treatment for his patient. PhD Candidate or not, this man was still a student. So again that leads me back to why Elizabeth Vidal would leave her son in the care of a student?!

So where did the psychiatrist find the grad student? Was he a student of hers? Did she teach him at the University? Why didn’t she follow protocol established by the university that she taught at? Surely she would know that she could lose her job over pulling a stunt like this? These are technical questions I know, but I think that they need to be considered. What does everyone else think?

Hi Everyone,

Mrsmajessick asked a really good question; who is more pathetic Trey or Magdalene? My money is on Trey. Trey is a confirmed gay male but Carey is bi-sexual. This has caused nothing but problems between the two of them because Trey couldn't accept who Carey is. This in turned caused Carey to act out (see orgy scene in Bared To You) and the scenes where Carey slept with Tatiana.

Despite all of that, Trey is determined to continue to date Carey. Why? Carey isn't going to change who he is. Carey never lied to Trey about his sexual orientation either. So why is Trey settling for scraps when it obviously upsets him when he sees his boyfriend being who he is? I suspect that this isn’t Trey’s first relationship either, so it can’t be argued that maybe wasn’t sure of his sexuality. Why would someone ask another person to being something that they are not? What does everyone else think?

 

GiGi,

 

That is horrible the way you were treated for doing your job. I stand and applaude your conviction to stand by your ethics. It had to be heartbreaking to not get the support you needed from you co-workers.

 

I may be slightly defensive on this subject because when I was nine a girl a couple of years younger than myself was taken out of her parents home for being physically abuse - beatings with hangers and wires and locking her in the closet all came out later. But, after only six months of the mother going to classes - not the father - who was just as responsible for abusing the little girl, she was placed back into the home. Several weeks later they found her dead in the basement and the parents nowhere to be found. It wasn't until some 15 years later they caught the mother, the father had od' on Meth. I didn't fullly understand the scope of this until years later and when I hear about children being abused it puts me on edge - I guess even fictional children. But, I'm good now. And, I'm sorry you went through what you did, but happy that you kicked their arse in court!

 

Now, who wants to talk about how pathetic Magdalene is (on the female side) vs Trey (on the male side)?

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I want to thank you for telling me about your experience. Your telling of that little girl’s story was profoundly sad. You just gave that little girl a voice; a voice that had been brutally and violently taken away from her. I am glad that you told her story! You remembered her. She is no longer a statistic. She was a little girl who was taken away too soon.

I think the discussions that have happened here are for a greater good. If we think about it, 95% of us see this forum as a; fun way to discuss books we enjoy, characters that we love (and hate-wink) and generally pass the time until the next brilliant installment. But maybe for those few individuals who might suspect a child is being abused or know for a fact that a child is being abused and thus far haven’t done anything about it, this forum and these discussions might give them the courage to make a phone call and reach out to get someone else some help (they can do it anonymously of course). God/Universe willing, maybe another child won’t become a tragic statistic and that would be amazing! :)

Hi everyone,

I think that maybe initially Gideon was physically touched but I think that later on the abuse may have escalated to actual penetration. My supposition is based on Gideon's dream where he is yelling about how much it hurts. I suppose that it could be a matter of interpretation and I think that is one issue that will hopefully be dealt with in the next book.

As I stated before, depending on when Gideon was examined, would determine whether there was physical evidence (ie. when did Gideon make his outcry and tell his mother that he was being abused). There is absolutely no written word from Sylvia, I suspect that Gideon probably tolerated a lot of abuse before he finally opened his mouth and said something to his mother. In which case, if my theory is correct there would have been physical signs of abuse; tearing, scarring, bruising, hemorrhages, petechiae, etc.(any or all of the symptoms). If that theory is correct, it would have lead to someone covering up Gideon's abuse, which means pediatricians lied when they claimed that they couldn't find any abuse/or someone paid these medical professionals off to cover up any potential scandals. I think that Sylvia may give more in depth information in her next book.

All of these theories (it doesn't matter which theory anyone discusses), are based one and dependent on one thought or another. It is almost like building a house made out of cards. One wrong move and the entire house tumbles down. What does everyone think?

Hi KiMa,

I am not suggesting that Gideon had Corinne kill Nathan. I was just wondering how Corinne would have know how to pick Nathan out of a crowd. What motive would Corinne have to kill Nathan? Did Nathan just pick Corinne off the street, follow her somewhere and try to attack her? Did he use his charms to lure her somewhere and then attack her? What? If you can come up with the ideas, I am all ears.

I think that Corinne showed up at the Crossfire Building looking to meet with Gideon but was wasn't allowed to meet with Gideon (for whatever reason) and maybe on her way out of the building she saw Eva and knew that she could get to her by making her jealous. So Corinne musses her self up a little, paints the "I had a good time look" on her face and walks out the door smugly. I am saying this strictly from a speculative point of view. Sylvia did not specifically write that is what Corinne did. That is why this such a good series. It allows the reader's imagination to flourish. What do you think? :)

 

Gideon has become a potential embarrassment to the Vidals, so it's better to keep him under their roof and watch then send him away to school.

 

He's got definite anger problems, from his father's death - the anger problems pre-date the abuse. In fact, they're the reason he got put into therapy. And now his mother at least is convinced he lied about being abused, doing so for attention as part of being a messed up kid. As far as Vidal Sr., it's one of two things: either he too believes Gideon lied, or worse, he knows Gideon told the truth. And I'll bet by this point, Gideon's anger problems have gotten a lot worse.

Better to keep Gideon under their roof, where they can control him more than sending him away.

Hi LNCronan,

I just wanted to clarify that my understanding was that Gideon was put into therapy because his anger escalated and spilled over onto the family, Christopher Jr. then started misbehaving. You are right in saying that Gideon was angry, but it was my understanding that everything got much worse after Elizabeth married Vidal Sr. and began having more children. I think that's when the anger escalated. What do you think?

Hi LNCronan,

I think that Gideon's actions in the elevator could be explained away. He could have spun the story to the police about how; he needed to remind Eva to stop calling him, following him, going after his family members, friends, etc. (depending on the timeline) and I think that would only be based on the accounts of witnesses. Somehow I doubt that the detectives could gain access to every single office and employee in the building.

I have one quick question; if Gideon and Stanton didn't meet in their respective offices, then where did they meet? I seriously doubt that there would be a phone trail between the two men either, which leads me to my next question; How did these two men communicate if they didn't communicate by phone?

Hi KiMa,

I read your theory and I was wondering how did Corinne know about Nathan and how could she have picked him out of a crowd? Do you think that Gideon told her about the abuse Eva suffered or do you think that she went digging on her own? I think that if you can answer those questions, then your theory becomes more plausible. :)

 

GiGi

Stanton had nothing to hide from the beginning so it wouldn't matter what the detectives saw on his security tapes..! After Eva and Christopher Jr had lunch, the security at crossfire pulled her aside to go in the security room with Gideon, she asked him "why are you in here" he responded "Plausible Deniability" so we know he's hiding and erasing something..!!

Hi MrsCrossfire,

I just wanted to clarify that if Stanton and Gideon were conspiring to kill Nathan together, then it would make sense to hide any communication or meetings from the police. I don’t necessarily believe that, it was just one of many possible theories. :)

Hi LNCronan,

If Gideon was smart enough to erase any tapes which showed him having any pleasant type of contact with Eva, then surely Stanton would have been smart enough to erase any tapes which showed Gideon going into his office building. It wouldn’t make sense that Gideon was careful and that Stanton wasn’t?

If I were to sit back and think about this logically, I don’t think that either Gideon or Stanton would have met in their respective offices if either man was planning to commit the murder. I also don’t think that either man would disclose their plans of murder to the other. So the reader is left to wonder; is this red flag or a red herring?

Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering if Vidal Sr. did payoff the individuals responsible for Gideon’s abuse, how has the Vidal’s marriage survived that kind of constant pressure. At some point didn’t Elizabeth figure out what her husband did? Wouldn’t Gideon actions (gaining controlling interest) pit him against his step-father in Elizabeth’s eyes? Even if Elizabeth Vidal were coerced into believing her husband (another theory mentioned earlier), after all these years how has this issue not driven a wedge between these two adults? Is this now a situation of Elizabeth and Christopher Vidal against Gideon?

Hi Everyone,

I don’t think that Christopher Sr. did it either, but I do think that maybe he played a role in a “potential†cover-up. I stated in another posting that if Christopher Sr. did payoff someone to keep quiet, then why leave Gideon in the situation? Why not have a heart and sent him away to boarding school? Why leave Gideon to suffer if in the end it would make Christopher Sr.’s life miserable; either directly or by way of Elizabeth Vidal or Christopher Jr.? It’s all little odd don’t you think?

Hi LNCronan,

Who knew that the word “paranoid†and Gideon could be found in the same sentence? Holy molly, by the end of the series I think we are all going to need therapy(psychiatric or chiropractic, either one will do)! This is turning into a veritable Payton Place! :)

 

Sometimes it's what a character does not do that's a red flag. Especially when a character stops doing something. Like Monica phoning Eva daily. You're right, GiGi, about Monica cutting was back on the frequency she phones Eva is red flag. It's a biggie. One could argue that Monica now is no longer paranoid about Eva's safety, because Nathan is dead, so she doesn't need to check on Eva all the time. But I don't think it's that simple. There's definitely something more to it. You sense it too. It's why you're in Camp Stanton/Monica.

 

Here's my own take. Aside from Detective Graves, the only person who has told Eva anything about Nathan's actions in New York is Monica. She's blurted stuff out while upset, especially right after Nathan died. Like Eva, Monica found out (or supposedly found out) from the cops showing up on her doorstep. The cops went to see Eva Friday night. Saturday morning, they saw Monica and Stanton. Soon as they left, Monica went running to Eva's place to give her the news, only to discover the cops had gotten to Eva first. And in this scene (starts on page 273) is when Monica lets slip some of the secrets she'd been keeping from Eva, especially the existence of the pictures and video Nathan had.

 

Bottom line: Monica is still keeping secrets. More now than ever. But she gets very rattled when the cops go after Stanton. Twice, she's been rattled enough to actually mention the cops to Eva. But mostly, she's kept her mouth shut, and I think this is why she's no longer calling Eva daily. Because Monica is now keeping very secret from Eva the ongoing investigation. Yet Monica is highly emotional, gets reduced to tears rather easily, and so she sometimes lets things slip.

 

I've been unabashedly leading Camp The Cops Are Trying To Trap Gideon and Eva. Want to know what THE single biggest red flag I see that makes me believe it's true? Out of many red flags present near the end of Reflected? What Monica said when she called Eva angry and in tears after yet another visit the cops made to Stanton. See the bottom of page 329 and the top of page 330.  They'd shown up that day at Stanton's office to take copies of the security tapes. And Monica blurted out the cops are being "relentless."

 

Know when the cops showed up with a search warrant for Stanton's security tapes? The day before Detective Graves "accidentally" runs into Eva at the Krav Maga studio. And claims among other things she'd burned her notes, and her partner had agreed they'd reached a dead end. Malarkey. Less than 36 hours before, they showed up search warrant in hand to force Stanton to cough up security footage of a particular day or days they were interested in. What did Graves and her partner do, "burn" whatever data device the copy was on instead of taking the time (lots of time) to analyze the footage contained?

 

Um no. If Graves and her partner decided on their own to drop a murder case (unlikely) and destroy their notes (detectives, especially homicide ones, never destroy case files) then why are they one day before serving a search warrant on a high-power (and seriously lawyered-up) financier at his office? And here's where my knowledge of legal procedure comes in: cops have to go through a judge to get a search warrant signed. And once they've served the warrant, they have to file with the judge's court office the fact they did so, including providing an inventory list of what they seized.

 

The cops are still being relentless. In fact, they've turned ruthless. The only "wall" Detective Graves has hit is failing to be able to punch one hole in Gideon's alibi. She's found just one possible hole in that entire day and night, the hour-long disruption caused by the small fire at the hotel where the vodka party took place. But Gideon was far too clever, so Graves can't break it. So the cops have decided instead to try to trap him into incriminating himself. Eva's the bait.

 

Oh and one of the Entwined snippets contains what I think is a related red flag to the cops' recent search warrant for Stanton (his security tapes.) When I spotted it in the snippet, I knew the cops are still running around with search warrants for records. It's the phone call Eva made to Gideon from the nightclub. She chose to use nightclub's phone, figuring it would be safe to use that number because Gideon owns the place. Safe how? Safe for some business-related phone number to show up on his phone records.

 

Because the cops can keep trying to get records like lists of phone calls to and from particular numbers. Copies of security tape footage. Bank records. Travel records. Lots of things. And not just for the time period before Nathan died. They can keep going back for stuff from after Nathan died too. In order to look for evidence of an ongoing cover-up conspiracy. Which could include search warrants for phone records listing the numbers of incoming and outgoing calls on Gideon's various personal and work phones.  And Stanton's. And probably Monica's. And now Eva's.

 

So Gideon and Eva are being very careful about phone calls. And thus far the only two times we've seen him approach her post-Reflected, in the Entwined Snippets, he's disguised his appearance to make himself look like some ordinary 20-something guy, not the young mogul he is. He either thinks the coast is not yet clear, or he actually knows it's not. Thus the secrecy. 

 

All along, he'd been asking for Eva to wait. For what? For him to go back to her. Why did he ever leave? To fool the cops into thinking he'd left Eva to go back to his former fiancé, thereby doing away with his motive. He loved Corrine, who'd left him all those years ago and then married another man. He loved Corrine, not Eva, so why would he killed for Eva. When would it be safe to go back to Eva? Sometime after the cops finally stopped investigating him.

 

Bear with me here in my theories: After the cops backed off, he could after some period of time make it look like his going back to Corrine didn't work out. Remember, she was the one who rejected him years ago; she broke the engagement. Now that she's getting divorced, he leapt at the chance to get her back. But again, the two of them didn't work out. So he's free again and has his pick of the many women waiting in the wings, the two most recent being Eva and Magdalene, both of whom he's publicly dated, you can assume from the tabloid photos. Why not give it another shot with either woman? Especially Eva. If you believe the gossip photos, he ditched Magdalene for Eva, so she'd be the more natural choice of the two. 

 

Graves isn't buying the cover story he jumped at the chance to win back the "one who got away" many years ago, the one he wanted to marry, the one he still loves. Graves knows he loves Eva. So she's set it up to have Eva go running back to him first, while the coast most definitely is not clear. Then to sit back and watch them give themselves away. And go after them soon as they do.  

Hi LNCronan,

I read your posting and I was just wondering if Monica is so rattle because she is the one who killed Nathan? That would be a really big secret to carry around for someone who isn’t good at carry those kinds of secrets? It might also explain why Monica is upset about the police going after Stanton. Stanton has been good to Monica, Stanton has constantly cleaned up all of Monica’s family messes and Monica likes that. Monica’s Marilyn Monroe “ish†is starting to fade. Could it be that the rose is losing its bloom? Could it be that Monica is starting to unravel just a little bit?

I am completely in agreement with you about Detective Graves. I don’t think that woman has one altruistic bone in her body. There is also no way that a detective can just decide not to investigate a “fresh†homicide case. They would receive “pink slip†therapy (i.e. they would lose their jobs). I guess we are going to have to wait and see. I have a strong feeling that Detective Graves will play a big role in the next book.

We are now in the month of March lady. We have only three more months to figure out the entire story; who did what to whom, who hid what from whom and who was just plain clueless. If we have any extra time left over, which I think we will, maybe we can come up with a cure for that pesky cancer thing. What do you think? With all the brain power of all the ladies in this forum…PIECE OF CAKE!! :)

 

I understand what you're saying GiGi and I completely agree. Elizabeth should have been able to look into her child's eyes and know that he was telling the truth without having any other proof. She's still wrong and nothing will change that. I'm only throwing out another speculation as to how the events might have gone down that appear to make sense. It's not a right or wrong argument just how things may have happen. I think the one thing we all agree on is that however it happened it was wrong. As we've all said before, Elizabeth Vidal is never ever going to get mother of the year. But, this goes back to themes I'm starting to see in these books of woman being manipulated and over protected by the men who love them and children suffering as a result of that. Eva flew under Monica's radar for four years without Monica ever noticing her little girl was being horribly abused - HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? Even before my children were able to talk I could tell something was wrong - and I think lots of mom's and dad's have that bond with their children, it's how we protect them.

 

So here you have both Monica & Elizabeth being so wrapped up in themselves their children's suffering goes un-noticed. Yes, I think it's possible that Elizabeth just couldn't handle another issue and choose - with the manipulation of her husband to gaze off Gideon's allegations of abuse and just see her son as being disturbed. Gideon's father's suicide predisposition her to believe her son has the potential to have problems. Elizabeth is just a beautiful trophy wife what does she know other than what she's being told by the doctors. Imagine if those doctors where telling her the same things Dr. Lucas told Eva about Gideon being a liar and a manipulator and a sociopath - that would be a lot for her to handle in her "fragile" state. I think it was just easier for her to put it all into a box and contain it and let her husband deal with it. They say love of money is the root of all evil and I believe that carrys over into the fictional world as well. Those doctors may have sold a poor child out for money and all it could buy and the places it could take them. I've lived in third world countries and seen children sold for far less.

 

And if your comment about knowing someone in the healthcare profession who doesn't put the patient first or follow proper protocol is directed towards me -  the answer is no. I don't know anyone personally who would do that. But, I only need to turn on the news to see it or travel to a third world country to witness it. Just like lots of other professions there are people in the health and mental healthcare who are as dirty as it gets. It's a horrible thing and if it were my child I'd be in prison over a trusted member of the healthcare profession failing my child on purpose - but it happens.

 

And, this is a book and so it's gonna be full of drama - some of it not so pretty as we've already read. It may get worst before it gets better. And I think that RIY was the dark before the storm. I think Gideon's story is gonna have some of us in tears when all is said and done and angry - which is what good books do. I can't wait to see how Sylvia plays it out.

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I read your comment and I just wanted to clarify that my comments were in no way directed toward you whatsoever. I am so glad to hear that you have parents that care about their patients and care about their safety and well being. That gives me hope for healthcare. I completely understand your discussion of the theories and I am completely cool with that. The issues of abuse have professionally hit close to home for me.

In my eighteen years of clinical practice I have only ever had to report a case of abuse once (Thank you God-may I never see another case again). I cannot go into specifics but I can tell you that the abuse was very obvious. So as a matter of professional protocol I documented all the physical evidence and the statements made by the “patientâ€. I then asked the office manager to keep the “individuals†who brought the child in for treatment distracted and away from the child. I informed the owner of the clinic what was going on and what the protocol was; I had to call the police and then I had to call The Children’s Aid Society (or CPS in the US). To my utter surprise and horror I was informed not to call and that he, “the owner†of the clinic (also a healthcare provider) would privately deal with the situation. When I asked him what his plans were for keeping the child safe, he began yelling at me to mind my own business. I then politely reminded him that I was legally obligated to report the abuse and to take the appropriate steps necessary (as mandated by my regulatory healthcare licensing body). While he was screaming that his clinic was going to lose revenue over the loss of the patient, I called the police and then CPS.

Needless to say, my contract was terminated immediately (I subsequently sued the owner of the clinic and won) and several individuals healthcare providers received reprimands (by their regulatory healthcare licensing body). When I asked colleagues about whether they had seen cases of abuse in their professional careers, a few had stated that they had, but they didn’t inform anyone of the abuse. The number one reason was; they were afraid of losing their jobs. They then proceeded to lecture me about how they had bills to pay, and a mortgage to pay, etc. (as if I don’t have bills to pay-sigh!). When I politely reminded them that they were legally obligated to put their patient above their own needs, I got a few select middle fingers.

I know that I am not the only person that this has happened to, but I wonder how many healthcare professionals would turn a blind eye. I suspect that there are a few or maybe more than a few. Maybe people visiting this website might know someone who doesn’t always put the needs of their patient/s above their own. Maybe all these discussions might help somebody who doesn’t know what to do, make the right decision. That’s all. I am sorry if I bored anyone.

 

why is it assumed that the vidals payed people off?  i really don't think there's enough money to get a doctor to ignore sexual abuse of a child.  and even if there were - who would they be protecting?  the only reason to cover up would be is vidal was the abuser, and then what good is it when the child himself cannot be paid off?  he was 11, 12?  it's not like he's too young to remember, so they just paint their kid off as crazy the rest of his life and hope he never talks to anyone?  it's all a little much for me. 

 

i don't think they paid to cover anything up - they simply did not believe him.  there must be another reason the doctors didn't find any evidence of abuse - maybe because he wasn't abused in any way that would leave marks?  it would be very plausible that the abuse came down to "he said/he said" and the troubled youth lost out to the reputable adult.

Hi Jo-mama,

In theory you are absolutely correct. Any physician, medical professional, nurse, dentist or healthcare provider should be above reproach, but unfortunately that isn’t always the case in the real world. The current theory is that the doctors whom Elizabeth Vidal consulted lied for their own reasons either; monetary gain, revenge or that perhaps they were themselves victims of her late husband’s ponzi schemes.

You are absolutely correct in that nothing should ever prevent a person from performing their ethical duty and upholding their “oath†of non maleficence- or do no harmâ€. All people who work in the healthcare industry, whose patient healthcare lay in their hands has to swear this oath. I had to swear this oath when I was licensed eighteen years ago.

My Jurisprudence and Ethics Professor once said that people are either inherently ethical or they are not. One hopes that for those individuals who are not ethical, that they can be educated to be more ethical. It doesn’t usually end up working out that way however.

How many times have we heard about cases in the media where something completely unethical occurs with a patient and then said investigations begin? A doctor touches a patient inappropriately, someone covers up mistakes made during a procedure, someone lies or “doctors†patient charts, etc. Could it be that maybe that some of us may know someone who is the healthcare profession who doesn’t put the patient first or follow the protocol set up by their individual healthcare regulatory body? No everybody who is a healthcare provider is ethical, not every healthcare provider has scruples.

As to the claims of Gideon being abused, if you go back to the book you will find that Elizabeth Vidal stated herself that she went looking for “physical evidence†of Gideon being abused. Depending on the type of abuse that Gideon was experiencing at the time would determine whether they may have found “physical evidenceâ€. For example if a child were being orally raped, if the practitioner were experienced and smart enough, then they would be examining the back of the child’s mouth and looking for circular bruising (signs of the p**** hitting the back of the child’s throat), or hemorrhages or petechiae (little ruptured blood vessels) that can present when a p**** is being rammed into the back of the child’s throat. If a physician or healthcare provider isn’t specifically trained to look for specific physical evidence then, the abuse can go undetected or be overlooked.

The most sinister thing for me is the fact that Elizabeth Vidal didn’t believe her son. That is the worst thing that can happen to a child. A mother is supposed to always protect and believe her child. She is always supposed to give her child the benefit of the doubt. Elizabeth Vidal did nothing. She failed her son in every way that was important. What is worst of all, is the fact that Elizabeth Vidal handed her son over to the abuser so that he could continue to rape him. Game over.

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I am starting to think that Elizabeth Vidal had “Mommy Dearest†Guilt. Or should I say selective guilt. She feels guilty about the fact that her husband killed which was something she couldn’t control but doesn’t feel any guilt about not having one ounce of common sense in not believing her son’s claims of being sexually abused? She then doesn’t want to inconvenience herself and hire new therapists to help her and her son, but she doesn’t even see fit to make sure that her son is seen by a proper child psychiatrist? Hello?!

I just don’t know anymore. Elizabeth Vidal cares from all outward appearances but her actions show that she doesn’t. Let’s lay out the points here:

• Gideon claims that he is being abused-Elizabeth doesn’t believe him. She needs “proof†in order to believe her son. Huge problem.

• Elizabeth asks Christopher Jr. about the abuse (a five year old child) and thereby pits one child against the other.

• Instead of suffering any type of supposed “familial humiliation Elizabeth decides to quietly ask two doctors to exam Gideon. No mention is made if Gideon was examined in a hospital, clinic or otherwise. One is left to assume that Elizabeth Vidal had the “doctors†come to the family house instead. No mention is made as to whether these two doctors are independent of one another.

• Who was present during these examinations? Was there a nurse with each doctor?

• If Elizabeth Vidal was so concerned about her child’s well being then why didn’t she believe him when he said that he was being abused?

• If Elizabeth Vidal was so concerned about Gideon’s disruptive behaviour, his outbursts and his fighting (and the effect that it was having on Christopher Jr.), then why didn’t she make sure that Gideon saw a child psychiatrist and not a lowly “Grad Student�

• If Gideon had that many problems than why would she entrust the mental health of her child to someone who wasn’t qualified?

I understand exactly what you are saying, I think as a reader I am left with more questions than plausible (answers a reader could stomach) answers. Every time I come up with a theory, more questions arise. As soon as I think I have answered a question, then a dozen more sinister theories arise. Why do I suddenly feel like a hamster running around on one of those plastic wheels? Sigh!

 

I think the fact Gideon found out so quickly it had been Nathan who attacked Cary as proof he was being followed by Gideon's people.

 

Cary was jumped from behind outside around the corner from a nightclub Friday night by someone with a bat. "Took me straight down and whaled on me a few times. Never got a chance to defend myself." Why did Nathan take off after only a few blows if he was in such a rage? My guess: someone chased him off, and that someone was the tail Gideon had on him. A tail would be watching from a short distance, not up close.

 

Gideon and Eva were at the concert at the time. Then came the fight in the alley between Gideon and Brett. Followed soon after by the sex-fueled fight Gideon and Eva had in the limo, which at the time was en-route to North Carolina. They arrived early the next day. Gideon made sure both his cell phone and her's were sent back north in the limo. And he deliberately made sure the house did not have a working phone nor Internet connection.

 

They got back to Eva's apartment just before midnight Sunday. That's when Gideon found out first; he checked his messages and found Stanton and Monica called. Early Monday morning, before work, Gideon stopped back at the hospital to see Eva and he was as tender as ever. As he walked away, he took a call to his cell phone.

 

Sylvia said Gideon's plan involving "leaving" Eva did not involve the North Carolina weekend. So it had to start after they got back. If you read closely, you can see things changed Monday. Instead of going back to the hospital after work, he took Corrine out to dinner and made sure their picture was taken. Tuesday morning before work was when Eva figured out something had changed, that Gideon had neither called nor texted her cell for 24 hours.

 

I'm sure Gideon's people were trying to reach him Friday. But he wasn't answering his phone. And no one could get in touch with him all weekend. I can't see his people leaving any sort of voice mails containing information of such a incredibly sensitive nature: that the guy he was paying them to tail committed serious assault and battery. They'd have kept calling until he answered his phone. Monday morning makes the most sense for when they finally did get him to answer a call.

Hi LNCronan,

I read your postings and I think that if Nathan did attack Carey, he didn’t hit him just a few times. He hit him several times and that makes a difference in the theory department. Let’s remember that Carey was a strong, vibrant, healthy young man who took care of himself. I think that it would have taken several blows in order for his bones to break. Carey also would have been doing his very best to protect himself (i.e. cover his head; protect his neck etc, with his arms, hands, etc.). Unless a person is unconscious, they will automatically raise their hands/arms etc. to whatever the threat is which seems to be evidenced by the fact that Carey had a broken arm Page 208 (so Carey didn’t get a chance to swing on his attacker-this was strictly a survival situation). This means that if your theory is accurate, then somebody stood by and watched while Carey was moaning and screaming in pain and yelling for help. Could it be that a bystander heard Carey’s cries for help and came in for to help? That is just as plausible.

Could it be that Carey got attacked and then Gideon decided to have Nathan followed, while Gideon hatched a plan for Nathan’s demise?

What Mrsmajessick said makes sense to me. If I were to commit murder I certainly wouldn’t be discussing it with everyone around me. I would keep my plans quiet and to myself. Could it be that each and every character was hatching a plan to do in Nathan themselves. Monica and Stanton could be a unit because they were married and legally couldn’t be required to testify against one another in court (or maybe Stanton found out about what Monica was up and then came in and cleaned up the mess/or sent in someone to help her, who knows?).

I agree with you that the books are written from Eva’s perspective but what is more interesting is how the other characters dealt with the whole Nathan issue or lack thereof. No one told Eva about his presence in New York. As a reader I find that even more interesting. It isn’t always just what Sylvia writes. Sometimes the lack of interaction between the characters is just as important during a crisis situation and I think that Nathan showing up in New York is a crisis situation. Up until then Monica always called her daughter; at home, work, and on her cell. Then Monica spotted Nathan herself and….nothing…..crickets! She said nothing to Eva? Why?! If that isn’t a “RED FLAG†then really I don’t know what is?

 

As much as I hate to give any kind of credit to Elizabeth Vidal but just for the sake of discussion, let's say Vidal Sr. paid off the doctors without Elizabeth's knowledge. She still should have believed her son, but what if Vidal Sr. was trying to protect Elizabeth from anymore stress and maybe even the possibility of losing Ireland (Vidal's kid). Vidal Sr. may hate Gideon for all we know and may have hated him from day one. Maybe he could have cared less what was happening to Gideon just as long as it didn't affect his wife and their marriage.

 

That would be so in-line with the theme of men using money and status to protect the women they love. Gideon does it with Eva by keeping her in the dark about Nathan and then killing him. Stanton does it with Monica by keeping her in a world of dresses and jewels and every other rich man Monica married did the same thing. So why wouldn't Vidal Sr. use his money and power to protect his wife from further scandal after her 1st husband commits suicide and now the son has been raped. I can see him going a long way to keep that from both Elizabeth & the public maybe even to the tune of Vidal Recorders being in hock (I would think it would take a lot of money to get two doctors to cover up a child being abused) and that's how Gideon was able to gain controlling interest.

 

I bet if that's true, Gideon may or may not be aware of the part Vidal Sr. played in the cover up. Or he may have figured it out and was able to buy back the shares of Vidal Records and hold it over Vidal Sr. head. He probably never told his mother about Vidal Sr. involvement because she wouldn't have believed it. She didn't believe him about the rape why would she believe her husband would cover it up. Or, maybe Gideon blackmailed Vidal Sr. into giving him controlling interest into his family buisness or else he would tell his mother????  Rich people are a real kick in the head -lol.

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I read your theory and I have only one question; why leave Gideon in the house then? Why not send him off to some type of military boarding school? In that way, Gideon isn’t being raped and he is out of Vidal’s hair (Sr & Jr.). If Vidal Sr. was capable of paying off monsters to keep their mouths shut and to rape his step-son, all the while convincing his wife that nothing was wrong, then why not be at least half humane and dump the kid in a private boarding school? If that man has that much power to convince his wife of crap, then surely he could convince her that sending Gideon away would be in Gideon’s best interest? Keeping Gideon around would create even further scandal for the family don’t you think?

 

The whole way the Vidals handled putting Gideon into therapy was appalling start to finish. Christopher Vidal Sr. wrote the big checks, and all of these private professionals, from the shrink to the pediatricians, all danced to the Vidals' tune and did whatever they could to smooth things over and hush things up. Maybe to insulate Elizabeth from any more scandal ever, her being the widow of a Ponzi schemer who killed himself.

 

The more I think about it too, Gideon got the horrible end of the short stick under that roof. Why wouldn't he? Vidal Sr. had his stunning new wife. She gave him a son/namesake, Christopher Jr. And at the time Gideon was really acting out, she was carrying Vidal's second child, Ireland. So everyone's focused on Elizabeth. The only reason Gideon is supposedly getting any help is because he's stressing his mother and is a bad influence on his 5-year-old stepbrother, who is starting to imitate Gideon by throwing physical tantrums too.

 

It makes sense that the shrink, brought in on the pretense of fixing Gideon, instead ended up spending all her time with Elizabeth. And Gideon got shunted off to the side with the PhD candidate. They certainly were ignoring Gideon then, because the guy was raping him right under the Vidals' roof!

Hi LNCronan

I read your posting and I have to say that I am confused. On page 197 of RIY Gideon states “She didn’t believe meâ€â€¦..His gaze was trained over my head. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s long done.†Gideon’s words to Eva directly imply that he himself told his mother about the abuse and that she didn’t believe him. It would also explain why he has a terrible relationship with his mother and why he remains so distant from her and from his family.

In your comment you asked: “So what if Angus decided instead to keep his mouth shut, remain Gideon's childhood driver, continue to believe Gideon and have faith in him and do everything he could to protect him for the remainder of his childhood.†I would respond to you by saying that Angus did NOT protect Gideon if he knew that Gideon was being abused and was criminally responsible for said abuse if he continued to keep his mouth shut. Period! Let’s just have a little dose of common sense here people!

Let me clarify again once more so that everyone knows the protocol; if a child is being abused (hit, beaten, raped, molested, etc.) the first order of protocol is to call the police! The child would have been removed from the immediate source of danger. In the case of Gideon there was an outcry, which means he said that a crime was being committed against him (he said it to his mother and maybe to Angus). He was being raped! The automatic obligation is to call the Police! A crime is being committed! Once the complaint is made, the police would come in and begin their criminal investigation (to see if in fact a crime was being committed and who was committing said crime.

The second order of protocol would be to contact Child Protective Services. They would come in and assess the child and then look at the living environment, have the child taken to a hospital for examination, to look for physical evidence. They would also talk with the child and the people assessing the situation. Both of these parties are extremely important in; 1) Stopping any immediate physical, sexual abuse act being committed on the child, 2) Assessing if a crime has been committed and 3) Making sure that the child has been removed from any source of danger permanently. It isn’t a situation of one or the other. Both agencies are crucial in this type of claim. People often assume that when a child is taken to a hospital for an examination (because of abuse claims) that the only call that needs to be made is to CPS. Let’s remember that the hospital has the physical and legal capacity to hold on to the child, separate him/her from the potential abuser and keep them safe until CPS arrives. In a way, they are acting like a surrogate agent for the police.

I say that Angus theory is flawed because Angus himself could have picked up the phone and made an anonymous phone call to the police to tell them about the Gideon’s sexual abuse claims (if he was so afraid of losing his job/or if he wanted to protect Gideon). That would have immediately put the wheels in motion and Gideon would have been removed from the household. He then would have been taken to the hospital to look for any physical evidence and there would have witnesses that Elizabeth or Christopher Sr. Vidal couldn’t have bribed (if that is in fact what they did).

I get really upset when I think about how many people in Gideon's life didn't use a little common sense and step in to help. It seems that everyone had their own interests at heart and at the end of the Gideon payed dearly! Sigh!

 

<p>

Angus is the only adult from Gideon's childhood with whom he's close. He started out driving Gideon to school when he was still a kid. Gideon hired him away from Christopher Vidal Sr. as soon as he was old enough to do so (and wealthy enough too, but we know Gideon started accumulating his fortune as a young man.) And Gideon trusts Angus so much that he entrusted Angus to protect the person who means everything in the world to Gideon: Eva.

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Angus had to have done something monumental for him when Gideon was young to earn such trust. Remember, Gideon is a man with very serious trust issues, so serious that those issues kept driving Eva away and ultimately caused her end the relationship. My theory of the day: Angus was the only adult who had the courage to speak out that Gideon was being abused. The red flag went up not because Gideon said something to his parents, but rather, Angus did. And Angus remained the only person in that house who believed Gideon even after his&nbsp;own family concluded he was lying because he was messed up and desperate for attention.&nbsp;To this day, his mother still denies anything happened.

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Near the end of Reflected, Gideon finally began to reveal some details to Eva about what happened to him as a child. I'm certain that in Entwined, he'll continue to talk more with Eva about his abuse past and about his family, then and now. Certainly, Eva has questions she wants answers to, such as why did Gideon gain financial control of his stepfather's business.

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He shared only a few pieces of the&nbsp;story as he sat there in the car with Eva. But we have to assume that every word of what he did say was true. The only reason he was finally revealing such closely-held secrets to Eva was he at last believed she&nbsp;had ended things for good.&nbsp;She made it clear she would no longer&nbsp;tolerate him refusing to be honest. She told him point blank she'd already begun moving on with her life, a life that no longer included him. He became desperate that he'd lost her. And so he began to talk.&nbsp;

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A summary of what Gideon did reveal to Eva during that crucial conversation:

• The abuser was a male&nbsp;doctoral candidate tagging along with&nbsp;a therapist, a woman,&nbsp;the Vidals originally hired to treat Gideon for anger issues. Gideon's anger issues were so bad that his younger half-brother, Christopher Jr., was starting to imitate his brother by throwing violent tantrums too.&nbsp;
• Christopher was five at the time. Doing the math, Gideon would be somewhere&nbsp;between the&nbsp;ages of&nbsp;10-12.
• The therapist was supposed to be treating Gideon, but she ended up instead spending her time with Gideon's mother, who was in the midst of a difficult pregnancy (carrying Ireland) and stressed with parenting two out of control&nbsp;boys (Gideon and Christopher).
• Gideon increasingly was left alone with this doctoral candidate, and that's when the man started abusing him.
• The behavior Gideon described started out as the man telling Gideon he needed to learn how to in order to relieve stress (this is "grooming" behavior). Then the man told Gideon he was doing it "wrong" and he began to "teach" Gideon how to do it the "right" way by touching him (now we're at the level of molestation.) And that every single time, the man forced Gideon to come so that the man could justify Gideon "wanted" it (a common means of keeping young victims from revealing abuse, brainwashing them into believing they're guilty).
• At that point in the conversation, Eva had heard enough. She climbed out of her seat in the car and into Gideon's lap, holding him close and comforting him&nbsp;by shushing him and&nbsp;telling him he didn't need to say more. So Gideon didn't get into any of the things that happened next.&nbsp;But we can guess from his violent nightmares Eva witnessed, (moans of pain and even during one nightmare, him crying out&nbsp;"it hurts!") that forcible penetration of Gideon came next.

What I really hope we learn in Entwined, as Gideon continues to trust Eva, is he'll talk about some of&nbsp;things that did come next:

• How did the red flag go up?
• Who were the two pediatricians Elizabeth Vidal consulted to examine him?
• What&nbsp;came next when his mother concluded he was lying. Did the abuser continue to have access to Gideon?
• When did the abuse finally end?
• How did the rest of his childhood and then his teens unfold?
• How soon into young adulthood did he begin extracting revenge against his family by cutting them off (i.e. rarely if ever seeing them and refusing to step foot in the house again)?
• Why did his revenge include gaining financial control of the Vidal family business?
• The full role Dr. Lucas, a pediatrician,&nbsp;played? Sylvia has told us he was not the abuser. Gideon has told Eva two scraps of info: that Lucas alienated him from his family, and Gideon sought revenge by seducing Lucas' wife, getting her to fall in love with him, then dumping her and sending her back to her husband.
• Most important of all: where is Gideon's abuser today, and what has Gideon done to get revenge against him?

Hi LNCronan,

Something just struck me as odd; Elizabeth Vidal hired all these supposed experts to help her "troubled son" so then why did Gideon only get the doctoral candidate and not the psychiatrist himself? Yes I know that Elizabeth Vidal was having a hard pregnancy and all, but wouldn't the psychiatrist refer Gideon to a child psychiatrist or have another specialist come out to the house on the days that original psychiatrist was going to be there helping Elizabeth Vidal? Gideon after all is supposed to be very disturbed-he has made false claims of abuses that couldn't be verified. He is also acting out and very violent, so again why would Gideon only need a lowly "Grad Student" and not someone with the best qualifications? Seriously?!

Did anyone check Christopher Jr. to see if he was being abused? If not, then why?

I also just wanted to clarify that when the abuser started touching Gideon he was grooming him. He wanted to see what he could get away with before his contact with Gideon escalated. It will be interesting to see how this dealt with in the next book.

Hi Jo-mama,

I just wanted to clarify that just because these women were affluent doesn't mean that Elizabeth Vidal would tell Magdalene's mother about Gideon's claim (false claims in her mind) of abuse. It would have left Elizabeth open to some very serious criticism from Magdalene's mother. I think these women probably shopped together, attended charity functions, and had each other over for dinner. Most people wouldn't disclose that kind of information to anyone other than a family member (if absolutely forced).

You are right in saying that Sylvia could the story any way she wants. That's true! After all these are her characters and she can do anything she wants with them. I just don't know if she would write the story that way. Who knows?

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AMC wrote: "Wow and Wow, lady! Great points!"&nbsp; LN Cronan wrote: "Fantastic observations, mrsmajessick, so much so I promoted the post to article status on the site."

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Thank you so much Ladies. I can't tell you how much fun it is to discuss this with all of you. I learn something new every time and of course it leads me to more questions, but I love it. Such a great way to make the wait time pass.

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Okay, so back to RIY. I am also really curious about Angus' statement to Eva "He knows when to stop." That has a really knowing and a bit ominous feeling to it. This isn't just a thought or a feeling he had, this is something he knows because he would have never left Gideon there if he believed otherwise. I wonder if Angus was instrumental in Gideon getting revenge against his abuser - if in fact he did? I wonder if it was Angus who may have taught him how to fight back in those early days and maybe at that time (from the sounds of Gideon's dreams) he took it to far and Angus showed him how to control and contain his anger.

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I don't think Angus would have been able to do anything directly himself because he would have more than likely lost his job (I'm sure Elizabeth would have had a fit if she thought he was indulging Gideon in what she considered to be made up stories) so maybe he did the next best thing and taught the child Gideon how to stop the abuse and defend himself. Gideon takes MMA training with his personal trainer now, but that may be to stay up on his' skills.

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The abuse had to end some way and I'm willing to bet Angus had something to do with helping Gideon to end it. What do you ladies think?

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I think it will be interesting to see how much of a role, if any, Angus played in Gideon's earlier life. I could imagine Angus going to pick Gideon from school and watching that boy get into fight, after fight, after fight, after fight. I could then see Angus talking to Gideon about his anger on the drive home. Gideon himself said that he was a very angry kid. I think that if other kids picked on him at school, etc. there may have come a point when he just finally snapped and started physically fighting his bullies. If you add the fact that Gideon was being abused at home, that could had added fuel to some serious rage in a kid who tried to go for help but wasn't believed. That could almost be a lethal combination for a kid who is strong and can beat up all manner of schoolyard bully. Just a thought.

Let's also remember that Angus was also Gideon's bodyguard so I find it highly suspect that Angus would know about the abuse. If he was told about it and did nothing (ie. have Gideon removed from the situation and the person causing the abuse), then I would find Angus to be morally reprehensible and derelict in his duty to protect his charge-Gideon. Angus would have had a legal and moral obligation to help Gideon and I really don't think that Gideon would have had Angus in his adult life if that was the case.

I also wanted to clarify that it would be absolutely despicable if Gideon told Angus about the abuse and didn't inform the authorities because he was afraid of losing his job. Again it would be like prostituting this child for financial security (which I don't think is the case). What you say about Angus teaching Gideon how to fight is plausible. It may have given the two of them an opportunity to connect and given Gideon a very useful tool (a manner in which to defend himself).