Chapter 6: The Truth I Owed My Daughter
I crouched and held Lily against me.
“No one is taking you anywhere tonight.”
The woman in gray raised one hand.
“I’m not here to remove Lily.
I’m here to confirm she is safe until tomorrow’s hearing.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Ask Marguerite who prepares her meals, takes her to school and stays when he travels.”
“I do,” Marguerite said.
“Because that is my job, not because her father abandoned her.”
“You practically live here.”
“And Lily’s father comes home for dinner whenever he is in the city.”
Vanessa pointed at me.
“He pays people to create the appearance of a family.”
Lily’s grip tightened around my neck.
“Daddy, were you really trying to get away from me?”
The question struck harder than anything Vanessa had said.
I sat on the grass with Lily in my arms.
“No, sweetheart.
But I made a mistake.”
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“Finally.”
I looked only at Lily.
“After your mother became ill, I worked at night so I could spend my days with her at the hospital.
Marguerite stayed with you.”
“You told me you were on business trips.”
“I did.
Your mother did not want you frightened, and I agreed to hide too much.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“Was Mommy scared?”
“Yes.”
Marguerite knelt beside us.
“And so was I,” I continued.
“After she was gone, I kept working because stopping meant feeling everything.
I thought giving you this home and keeping your life steady was enough.”
“It wasn’t,” Lily whispered.
My throat closed.
“No,” I said.
“It wasn’t.”
She touched my cheek.
“I needed you to ask why I didn’t smile.”
“I should have asked the first time.”
Lily began crying against my chest.
I held her while Marguerite rested a hand on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“You will never have to earn your place beside me.
Not with a smile.
Not with good behavior.
Not for anyone.”
Eleanor wiped her eyes.
The woman in gray closed her folder.
“I have seen enough to leave Lily here tonight.
Tomorrow, the judge will review the petition.”
Vanessa’s smile vanished.
“You haven’t inspected the house.”
“I have observed the child with her father.”
“You’re taking sides.”
“I’m doing my job.”
Conrad stepped close to Vanessa.
“Withdraw the petition before the hearing.”
She spoke through her teeth.
“You told me it would work.”
“I was told the father had signed the guardianship papers.”
“He was going to sign them.”
“No,” I said.
“I wasn’t.”
Vanessa faced me.
“Let us speak privately.”
“There is nothing private left.”
“There will be if you accept my offer.
I withdraw the petition.
You tell the bank the transfer was a misunderstanding.
Marguerite leaves, and I keep the ring as compensation.”
Eleanor stared at her daughter.
“You are offering peace in exchange for silence.”
“I am protecting everyone.”
“You are protecting yourself,” I said.
Vanessa took one step closer.
“Refuse me, and tomorrow I will play every video I have of you arriving late, missing events and leaving Lily with Marguerite.”
“Show all of it.”
“I will show what the court needs to see.”
The photographer raised his camera from the table.
“I may have something the court needs to see too.”
Vanessa swung toward him.
“You were paid to take photographs.”
“And video,” he said.
“Your father requested a record of the speeches.”
Charles frowned.
“What did you capture?”
The photographer turned the small screen toward us.
The video showed Vanessa entering my study before the party.
She used a key, opened the locked cabinet and removed Anna’s blue box.
Lily gasped.
“Mommy’s letters.”
Vanessa backed away.
“That box belongs to this household.”
“No,” I said.
“It belongs to Lily.”
The photographer advanced the recording.
Vanessa carried the box to Conrad’s car.
Conrad looked at her.
“You told me those were financial records.”
Before she could answer, Graham’s phone rang.
He listened, then covered the receiver.
“The court moved the hearing forward,” he said.
“We have to appear at eight tomorrow morning.”
Vanessa looked directly at Lily.
May you like
“Good,” she said.
“By nine, the judge will know what kind of father you really have.”
