Chương 12
“No. Our old home. Before everybody knew.”
Naomi pulled her close. Lily resisted for a second, then pressed her face against Naomi’s sweatshirt.
Damian remained by the door.
He wanted to explain the draft, the safeguards he had created, the people he had fired from the matter. Every explanation would have required Lily to understand the machinery that had harmed her.
He said only, “I’m sorry.”
Lily did not look at him.
Naomi walked him into the hallway.
“Do not come tomorrow,” she said.
He nodded.
“Do not send anyone.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not fix this in public.”
“I won’t.”
Naomi held the door half closed. “You may not be the man Evelyn left. But every person around you is still trained to serve that man.”
The door shut.
Damian spent the next day at Cross Holdings dismantling protections built around himself.
He terminated Malcolm’s authority over personal matters and removed him from the internal review concerning Lily. Malcolm argued that he had acted within his responsibilities.
“You did,” Damian said. “That is the problem.”
“You have expected me to anticipate threats for twelve years.”
“She is not a threat.”
“I had no basis to know that.”
“You had no basis to investigate a nurse’s finances before confirming paternity.”
“I was protecting you.”
Damian looked at him across the desk. “Everyone who has harmed Eva or Lily begins with those words.”
Malcolm’s face hardened. “Including you?”
“Yes.”
That answer ended the argument.
Damian then met with the board. He disclosed the deleted voicemail, the rejected email, Celeste’s intervention, and the confidentiality draft. He requested a temporary leave from executive duties until the independent committee completed its review.
Several directors opposed the leave because it could signal instability. Celeste opposed it because she believed resignation under pressure would embolden critics. Damian insisted.
“I have spent years benefiting from a system where nobody risked telling me no,” he said. “I cannot examine what that system did while continuing to sit at its center every morning.”
The board approved a six-week leave.
The company released a statement explaining that Damian had stepped aside voluntarily during a review of personal and governance issues. It revealed no details about Lily. Commentators supplied them anyway.
Some called his decision honorable. Others called it an admission of wrongdoing. A financial channel displayed Lily’s blurred image beside a stock chart. Damian turned off the television.
He did not contact Naomi for three days.
On the fourth, Lily called him.
“Naomi says I only get five minutes.”
“That is all right.”
“Did you get fired?”
“No. I took time away.”
“Because of me?”
“Because of decisions adults made before and after you came to the ballroom.”
“That sounds like a lawyer.”
“I have been spending too much time with one.”
Lily was quiet.
“How is Mr. Gray?” he asked.
“His ear is crooked.”
“I predicted that.”
“Naomi says you were rude.”
“She is correct.”
Another pause.
“Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“You didn’t come.”
“Naomi asked me not to.”
“You listened?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she asked.”
Lily seemed to consider this as evidence.
“Can you come Saturday?”
“Only if Naomi agrees.”
“She’s standing here making a face.”
In the background, Naomi said, “I am not making a face.”
“You are,” Lily replied.
Damian waited.
Naomi took the phone. “One hour. No work talk.”
“I am not working.”
“That may be the first encouraging thing you’ve said.”
On Saturday, Damian arrived in dark jeans and a gray sweater. Lily stared at him from the doorway.
“You have other clothes.”
“A few.”
“You look less like a villain.”
“Progress.”
They walked to a small park four blocks away. Owen remained across the street, far enough that Lily forgot him for stretches of time. Naomi sat on a bench with coffee while Damian pushed Lily on a swing.
“Higher,” Lily said.
“This seems high.”
“It isn’t.”
“I disagree.”
“Naomi goes higher.”
“Naomi has poorer risk assessment.”
From the bench, Naomi raised one finger without looking up.
Lily laughed. The sound startled Damian. It was the first time he had heard it without restraint.
He pushed the swing higher.
Afterward, they fed stale bread to ducks until a park employee told them not to. Lily argued that a sign should have been posted. The employee pointed to a sign directly behind her.
Damian bought the man a coffee from a cart as an apology.
“You didn’t have to pay him,” Lily said.
“I did not pay him. I bought coffee.”
“That’s how you apologize?”
“Sometimes.”
“You could say sorry.”
Damian turned back toward the employee. “I’m sorry.”
The man looked confused. “Okay.”
Lily nodded. “Better.”
They sat beside the pond. Lily pulled the ring from beneath Mr. Gray’s repaired ear. The faded red thread had been shortened and tied around the rabbit’s neck.
“Mom said this was your wedding ring too.”
“She had hers. Mine was larger.”
“Where is yours?”
“In a drawer.”
“You stopped wearing it?”
“Yes.”
“After she left?”
“About a year later.”
“Why?”
“People kept asking questions.”
“So you hid it.”
“Yes.”
Lily watched a duck turn in slow circles near the reeds. “Mom hid hers in Mr. Gray.”
“Yes.”
“You both hid things.”
Damian looked at the ring in her palm. “We did.”
“Did that help?”
“No.”
Lily slipped the band back onto the thread. “I don’t want your last name.”
“You do not have to take it.”
“I might want it later.”
“That is allowed.”
“I might not.”
“That is also allowed.”
She leaned against the bench, close enough that her sleeve touched his. “Naomi says you told the court I should stay with her.”
“I did.”
“Your mother says that means you don’t want me.”
Damian’s head turned sharply. “When did she say that?”
“She sent a letter.”
“Did Naomi give it to you?”
“No. I found it.”
Across the pond, Naomi lowered her coffee.
May you like
“What exactly did it say?” Damian asked.
Lily recited carefully. “Your father’s decision not to seek immediate custody may be interpreted in many ways, but you should never believe you are unwanted by your family.”
