Chương 10
“She said it became her business if I planned to use Lily to get back into Nathan’s life.”
Nathan’s eyes flashed.
“She said that?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you bring Lily?”
Grace’s face tightened.
“She invited both of us.”
Nathan frowned.
“You said earlier she told your mother to come alone years ago.”
“That was years ago.”
“I mean today.”
Grace looked at him.
“The text said, ‘Bring Lily if you need to.’”
Nathan sat back.
“That doesn’t sound like an accident.”
“No.”
Mrs. Lin clasped her hands.
“Do you still have the text?”
“My phone is missing.”
Nathan’s eyes hardened.
Grace looked at him.
“What?”
“Your phone disappeared in Victoria’s house.”
“I noticed.”
“And Victoria was unusually concerned about police.”
Grace felt her stomach knot.
Nathan reached for his own phone.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
Grace lowered her voice.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling the police.”
“No.”
“Grace.”
“I said no.”
Nathan’s expression shifted toward anger.
“She assaulted you.”
“I was there.”
“She may also have taken your phone.”
“May have.”
“And if that phone contains the invitation—”
“I know what it contains.”
“Then why are we sitting here?”
Grace stared at him.
“Because I have a four-year-old daughter who watched a woman hit me.”
Nathan’s anger faltered.
“She watched you arrive ten seconds later and become the center of everything.”
“That isn’t what I’m trying to do.”
“I know.”
The admission came out softer than Grace intended.
She looked toward the living room.
Lily had stopped humming.
“She has been moved from one unfamiliar house to urgent care and now here.”
Nathan followed her gaze.
Grace continued.
“I am not putting a police officer in front of her tonight unless I have to.”
Nathan rubbed his thumb along the side of his phone.
“You can make a report without Lily giving a statement tonight.”
Grace looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“My company has dealt with workplace assaults.”
“That is not the same.”
“No.”
He nodded.
“But it means I know enough not to pretend evidence waits politely.”
Grace’s jaw tightened.
Mrs. Lin spoke.
“He is right about the phone.”
Grace turned toward her.
Her mother looked miserable.
“I know you are angry at me.”
“I’m not discussing that now.”
“I know.”
Grace’s eyes narrowed.
Mrs. Lin sighed.
“But if Victoria took the phone, you should not give her time to decide what to do with it.”
Nathan leaned back slightly.
For once, he did not add anything.
Grace hated that both of them were making sense.
She looked at her own hands.
Her right arm rested awkwardly in her lap.
The bruise had begun to darken beneath the edge of her sleeve.
She could feel it pulsing.
“Not here.”
Nathan waited.
“I’ll call from outside.”
Grace looked at him.
“I’ll make the report.”
His expression changed.
“I wasn’t trying to take that from you.”
“I know.”
She stood carefully.
“I need five minutes.”
Nathan rose too.
“I’ll come with you.”
“No.”
He stopped.
Grace looked toward the living room.
“Stay with Lily.”
The request seemed to surprise him more than anything else had.
“Me?”
Grace almost laughed.
“You are her father.”
The words sounded different spoken in a kitchen than they had sounded in a mansion.
Less like revelation.
More like responsibility.
Nathan glanced toward the living room.
“I don’t know what to do.”
Mrs. Lin gave him a dry look.
“Sit down and do not frighten her.”
Nathan frowned.
“That is not helpful.”
“It is more help than you gave Grace four years ago.”
“Mom.”
Mrs. Lin’s mouth closed.
Nathan absorbed the blow without answering.
Grace went to the front porch.
The late afternoon air had cooled.
She sat on the top step and used her mother’s phone to call the non-emergency police line.
Her voice sounded unnaturally calm when she gave the address of Nathan’s house and described what had happened.
The dispatcher asked whether Grace was safe now.
“Yes.”
Whether the assailant knew her present location.
“I don’t think so.”
Whether Grace had received medical treatment.
“Yes.”
Whether she wanted an officer sent to her current address.
Grace looked through the front window.
Nathan was sitting on the living room rug.
Lily sat three feet away with the rabbit between them.
Nathan was saying something Grace could not hear.
Lily stared at him with grave suspicion.
Grace turned away.
“No.”
The dispatcher explained that an officer could meet her at a nearby station or another safe location.
Grace chose the station.
Then came the question about evidence.
“My phone is missing.”
“Where did you last have it?”
“In my bag at the house.”
“Did you see anyone take it?”
“No.”
“Is there anything relevant on the device?”
“Yes.”
Grace looked down at the porch boards.
“There are messages from the woman who hit me.”
The dispatcher asked whether Grace could access her messages from another device.
“I don’t know.”
When the call ended, Grace stayed on the step.
Traffic whispered along the main road beyond the neighborhood.
A lawn sprinkler clicked rhythmically two houses down.
Someone was grilling onions.
For several minutes, Grace simply listened to ordinary life.
Then the front door opened.
Nathan stepped outside alone.
Grace looked back toward the window.
“Where’s Lily?”
“Your mother.”
“She lasted three minutes with you?”
“Seven.”
Grace checked the time.
“Five.”
Nathan sat on the opposite end of the step.
He left enough space between them that Grace noticed.
“What happened?”
“She asked if I knew how to braid hair.”
Grace looked at him.
“What did you say?”
“The truth.”
“So no.”
“No.”
Despite herself, Grace smiled.
Nathan looked toward the street.
“She told me I should learn.”
“That sounds like her.”
“She also informed me that pancakes are better shaped like animals.”
“They are.”
“I was unaware pancakes had a hierarchy.”
“You have missed a lot.”
The smile disappeared.
Nathan looked down at his hands.
“Yes.”
Grace regretted saying it.
Again, she refused to apologize.
“I made the report.”
Nathan nodded.
May you like
“Okay.”
“They want me to go to the station.”
