Mei receives an invitation to a private mediation from a quiet law firm acting at the family's behest. The letter promises on-the-record answers—if she attends. The catch: the room will be crowded with cameras unless she negotiates privacy terms.
She spends the day with Renée and Elena going over what she will say and what she will not. Mei's instincts tell her not to trust anyone whose life depends on her silence. Yet the lawyers' subpoena would unearth others' lies—some good, some ugly.
Adrian shows up at Renée's doorway with a new proposal: he'll sign a public apology and walk away from his role in any family governance if Mei allows him to present personally, not through lawyers, to the mediator—no cameras, no press. It's a humiliating offer from a man used to avoiding humiliation.
Mei almost recoils. Then she remembers the child's small face in the sonogram and chooses strategy over scorn.
Cliffhanger: In the meeting room, the mediator slides a thick envelope across the table. Inside: a private audio clip—Hannah's voice, recorded, admitting she met with the dead witness two nights before he died.