For someone looking from the outside, the Roy family seemed as put together as any other precocious and morally ambiguous family did. A family who fought at each others throats like wild dogs.
Though once Matilda got close enough to the Roy's to pee...
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"Sexual exploitation, violence, theft, plus a host of other crimes, all of it hidden by cover-ups and corruption to avoid damaging headlines... That's what my guest, whistleblower James Weissel, alleges went on for decades inside Brightstar, America's second-largest cruise line operator," narrated the presenter, Susan Vardy.
"Sounds like someone's looking for a book deal," Roman joked, sipping his beer and tossing a cashew in his mouth from the snack platters in front of him.
"Book deal, book deal, book deal!" Tom chanted.
"Brightstar Cruises was, for decades, a cesspool of mismanagement... and millions and millions of dollars paid out over decades to cover up sеxual exploitation and harassment by Brightstar employees, and a lot of it actually committed by the man in charge, Lester McClintock," the host continued.
The man on the television screen answered the hosts questions, mentioning a few names of those he recalled was across the scandals: Gerri Kellman, Bill Lockhart, Kendall Roy and Tom Wambsgans.
"You mentioned this phrase, 'NRPI', that occurred many times in the shadow logs," Sandy added.
"Ooh, shadow logs... Spooky," Greg cooed, trying to join in on the slander.
"Yes, NRPI stands for 'No Real Person Involved'. A sex worker, or a migrant worker at a foreign port, even someone who wasn't a permanent member of staff," James explained.
"No real person involved," Susan repeated.
A thick silence fell over the room, everyone frozen in their place as they heard the term Waystar had used to describe the victims. For majority of those watching, this was like hearing nails down a chalkboard, a glass smashing in a quiet room. But for those closer to the eye of the storm like Logan himself, NRPI wasn't anything new. To Tilly, it felt like a gunshot between the eyes.
"Excuse me, I-I've got to uh, I've just gotta get some fresh air. Must've had too much to drink," Tilly said quietly, avoiding eye contact with any of them as she left the room.
She hadn't been to Logan Roy's apartment before, so finding a quiet space was more of a feat than she had anticipated. The housekeeper she walked past was on the receiving end of a fake smile holding back tears as she walked up the stairs with legs like jelly. Her shaking hand drifted along the railing, doing all but supporting her weight before she collapsed on the landing at the top. She gasped as if she was taking her last breath of air, sitting on the top step as she brought her knees to her chest.
"Tilly? A-are you okay?" Greg asked timidly as he found her sitting on the staircase, her hands clasped over her mouth and her eyes staring dead ahead.
"No real person involved..." she said, her words emotionless and cold.
Greg quietly climbed the stairs and sat on the step two beneath her. He didn't know what to say to her. What words could possibly leave his lips to make her feel any better about this situation? He couldn't begin to imagine the pain and suffering she was experiencing, but being here with her he knew that at least she wouldn't feel so alone in this.
