Chương 3
Grace looked around the library.
“That sounds expensive.”
“It was.”
“Did it make him happy?”
Daniel looked at the fireplace.
“No.”
The answer came faster than he expected.
Grace watched him carefully.
“That’s a strange thing for someone like you to say.”
“Someone like me?”
She hesitated.
“You know.”
Daniel laughed quietly.
“No, I don’t.”
“The man who owns this place.”
He looked around the room.
“This place owns me more often than I own it.”
Grace almost smiled.
Almost.
Then she looked serious again.
“I need to know something.”
“Okay.”
“Why did you really stop tonight?”
Daniel knew what she meant.
Not the child.
Not the bear.
Not the scene in the ballroom.
The real reason.
He looked at Maya.
“When my father was sick, Marcus visited him.”
Grace’s eyes narrowed.
“My grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel swallowed.
“My father was angry with everyone.”
Grace waited.
“He had spent his whole life building the company, and when he got sick, he hated that he couldn’t control what happened next.”
Daniel walked back toward the chair.
“Marcus was one of the only people who could talk to him.”
“And the bear?”
Daniel looked at it.
“I gave Marcus that bear the week before he died.”
Grace’s expression softened.
“He kept it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked down.
“I don’t know.”
The honesty seemed to matter more than an answer would have.
Grace adjusted the blanket around Maya.
“My father kept everything.”
Daniel smiled slightly.
“He did.”
“You knew that?”
“He kept receipts from restaurants.”
Grace laughed quietly.
“Exactly.”
“He kept broken watches.”
“Yes.”
“Old letters.”
“Yes.”
“Buttons that fell off shirts.”
Grace looked surprised.
“You remember that?”
Daniel nodded.
“He said things people threw away were usually the things that proved they had lived.”
For several seconds neither of them spoke.
The ballroom music drifted faintly through the walls.
Christmas lights reflected across the dark windows.
Grace looked at the floor.
“My father wasn’t around much after my mother left.”
Daniel listened.
“He worked too much.”
“That was Marcus.”
“But when he was home, he tried.”
Her voice became quieter.
“He wasn’t perfect.”
“I know.”
“He missed birthdays.”
Daniel nodded.
“He probably apologized badly.”
Grace looked at him.
“How did you know?”
“Because he apologized badly to everyone.”
That made her laugh.
A real laugh.
Small.
Unexpected.
It disappeared quickly, but Daniel saw it.
Then her expression changed.
“My mother said he was irresponsible.”
Daniel waited.
“She said he cared more about helping other people than taking care of us.”
The sentence stayed between them.
Daniel did not rush to defend a dead man.
“He did help people.”
Grace looked down.
“That doesn’t answer what I said.”
“No.”
He folded his hands.
“It doesn’t.”
The fire popped.
“He made mistakes.”
Grace looked at him.
“You’re not going to tell me he was secretly perfect?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Daniel nodded.
“Your father was stubborn.”
Grace smiled.
“He was.”
“He thought asking for help meant failing.”
“That sounds right.”
“He also believed people deserved more chances than they usually got.”
Grace’s face changed.
Not because she disagreed.
Because she remembered.
“He told me that once.”
“When?”
“When I was sixteen.”
She looked toward the hallway.
“I had failed my driving test.”
Daniel smiled.
“Marcus was a terrible driver.”
Grace laughed softly.
“He told me I shouldn’t worry because everyone failed at something before they became good.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What happened?”
“I passed two weeks later.”
“Did he celebrate?”
“No.”
She looked amused.
“He said he expected me to pass because he knew I was stubborn.”
“That sounds like him.”
Grace looked at the sleeping child.
“He would have loved Maya.”
Daniel saw something painful move across her face.
“You never told him about her?”
Grace shook her head.
“He died before I knew I was pregnant.”
The room became quieter.
Daniel felt something heavy settle in his chest.
“I’m sorry.”
Grace nodded.
“I used to be angry about that.”
“Used to?”
“I still am sometimes.”
She looked embarrassed.
“I know people think you’re supposed to stop being angry when someone dies.”
“They don’t.”
“Some people do.”
Daniel understood.
People liked grief when it was quiet.
They became uncomfortable when it remained complicated.
Grace continued.
“I wanted him to meet her.”
Her fingers moved over the teddy bear’s worn fur.
“I wanted him to know he had a granddaughter.”
Daniel looked at the bear.
“He would have loved that.”
“You don’t know.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“But I know Marcus.”
Grace held his gaze.
For the first time that night, she seemed less guarded.
Not trusting.
Not yet.
Just less prepared to fight.
Then a knock came from the library door.
Diana stood outside.
Her expression had changed.
The confidence was still there.
But something else had appeared beneath it.
Concern.
“Daniel.”
He stood.
“What happened?”
Diana looked at Grace.
Then at Maya.
Then back at Daniel.
“There is a problem.”
Grace immediately shifted.
“I’ll leave.”
“No,” Daniel said.
Diana ignored him.
“The staff manager is asking about the situation.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
“Because someone reported that an employee brought an unauthorized guest into the event.”
Grace’s face tightened.
“I knew this would happen.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Who reported it?”
Diana hesitated.
That hesitation answered more than words.
“Diana.”
She sighed.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel watched her carefully.
For years, he had negotiated with executives who avoided direct answers.
He recognized the pattern.
“You do know something.”
Diana looked away.
“The complaint came from a guest.”
“Which guest?”
“I’m handling it.”
“No.”
His voice remained calm.
But the room changed.
“Who?”
Diana looked at him.
“It was from one of the board members’ wives.”
Grace lowered her eyes.
Daniel noticed.
She was not surprised.
She was afraid.
Not of the woman.
Of what people like that could do.
A job could disappear quietly.
A recommendation could vanish.
A person could become a problem without ever being called one.
May you like
“Grace,” Daniel said, “has anyone spoken to you about this before tonight?”
She shook her head.
