Chương 4
“You are out of your mind.”
“Maybe.”
“You can’t search private financial records because you’re angry.”
“No. Which is why my attorney is doing what he is permitted to do and nothing more.”
“This is humiliating.”
“For you?”
“For us.”
“There may not be an us.”
The quiet that followed seemed longer than it was.
Elena closed her eyes.
Lily whispered, “Is he going to divorce her?”
“I don’t know.”
“I would.”
Elena looked down.
Lily shrugged.
“She threw Teddy.”
At nine twenty-three, Richard’s attorney arrived.
At nine thirty-one, Vanessa’s attorney called.
At nine forty, two cars entered the circular drive: one carrying Richard’s chief financial officer, Mark Ellison, and another bringing a private family-law attorney Richard had apparently retained before Elena even realized he owned the number.
By ten, the mansion no longer felt like a house.
Doors opened and closed. Phones rang. Staff whispered in the service corridor. The cook burned a tray of biscuits because she stood listening beside the pantry door. The gardener came inside pretending to ask about fertilizer and was sent back outside by the butler.
Lily remained in the blue sitting room.
Richard came and went.
Each time, he asked permission before entering.
Each time, Lily checked whether he still looked like the person who had promised not to leave.
Vanessa did not appear again.
Around eleven, Elena received a text from the household manager.
Mrs. Hale requests you report to the west study immediately.
Elena stared at the message.
Lily saw it.
“Is she firing you?”
“Maybe.”
“Don’t go.”
“I need to.”
“Why?”
“Because avoiding scary people doesn’t always make them less scary.”
Lily frowned.
“That sounds like something a teacher says.”
“It does.”
“Do you believe it?”
Elena slid the phone into her apron pocket.
“Not consistently.”
Lily gripped the bear.
“Can I come?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m trying very hard to avoid making bad decisions today.”
Lily looked toward the door.
“Will Richard stay?”
“I’ll ask him.”
She did not have to.
Richard appeared less than a minute later, phone in hand.
“Elena.”
She held up the message.
He read it.
“No.”
“She’s my employer too.”
“Not anymore.”
Elena blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m separating household authority effective immediately.”
“You can do that?”
“It’s my house.”
“That didn’t answer the legal version of the question.”
For the first time that morning, Richard looked almost annoyed.
Then he nodded.
“Fair. My attorney says I can suspend her authority over employees until we sort out the employment contracts. You will be paid regardless.”
Elena crossed her arms.
“You moved quickly.”
“I’m having a bad morning.”
“So is Lily.”
His face changed.
He looked past Elena.
Lily sat cross-legged on the carpet, whispering something to her teddy bear.
Richard lowered his voice.
“I know.”
“She needs lunch.”
“Yes.”
“She needs something normal.”
Richard nodded.
“What does she like?”
“Macaroni and cheese.”
“I can make that.”
Elena stared at him.
He stared back.
“What?”
“Can you?”
His silence answered.
Elena sighed.
“I’ll make it.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I told her I’d stay. I can make macaroni and cheese.”
“You own six companies.”
“Seven.”
“You cannot boil pasta.”
“I can learn.”
“You are not learning to cook while three attorneys are dismantling your marriage in the next room.”
Richard looked toward Lily again.
“Maybe that’s exactly when a person should learn to cook.”
Elena almost argued.
Then she realized he meant it.
Twenty minutes later, Richard Hale stood in his own kitchen reading instructions from a box while Lily watched from a stool.
The chef offered assistance three times.
Richard refused twice.
The third time, after pouring the pasta into water that had not fully boiled, he surrendered.
“You were right.”
The chef nodded.
“I know.”
Lily giggled.
It was the first full laugh Elena had heard from her.
Richard looked at her.
His expression softened so quickly it made Elena look away.
The chef finished the macaroni.
Richard carried Lily’s bowl himself.
They ate at the kitchen island.
Richard did not ask about Rebecca.
He asked Lily whether she liked school.
She said mostly.
He asked what part she did not like.
“Gym.”
“Why?”
“Running.”
“I hated running.”
Elena looked at him.
Richard’s athletic build made the statement suspicious.
“When?”
“Kindergarten.”
“That doesn’t count.”
“It counts to me.”
Lily asked, “What did you like?”
“Books.”
“What kind?”
“Dinosaurs.”
“You read dinosaur books?”
“All of them.”
“That’s weird.”
“I was five.”
“You were six once.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do when you were six?”
Richard put down his fork.
His answer took longer than it should have.
“My father was teaching me to sail.”
“Did you like him?”
The room changed.
Elena saw the chef suddenly become very interested in reorganizing knives.
Richard looked at Lily.
“Sometimes.”
“That’s not yes.”
“No.”
“Was he mean?”
Richard folded his napkin once.
“He could be.”
Lily nodded as though this confirmed a private theory.
“My aunt says rich people can be mean because nobody tells them no.”
Richard glanced toward Elena.
Elena kept eating.
“That sounds like Claire,” he said.
“You know her too?”
“I met her a few times.”
“Did she like you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Richard considered lying.
Elena watched him decide not to.
“Because I hurt your mother.”
Lily stopped eating.
“On purpose?”
“No.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
Richard rubbed his jaw.
“I put work ahead of her too often. I canceled plans. I expected her to understand things I never explained. I thought being busy was the same as being important.”
Lily looked at Elena.
“That sounds dumb.”
Elena said, “It does.”
Richard nodded.
“It was.”
Lily went back to her macaroni.
A minute later she asked, “Did she hurt you?”
Richard’s fork stopped.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She left without saying goodbye.”
Lily stared at him.
“But Vanessa made her.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“You think it.”
Richard looked down.
“Yes.”
At twelve fifteen, Claire Mercer called from the hospital.
May you like
Richard had spent the morning trying to reach her.
Elena expected him to take the call privately.
