Chương 5
Instead, he asked Lily.
“Do you want to talk to your aunt?”
Lily nodded immediately.
Richard placed the phone on speaker on the kitchen island.
Claire’s voice came through hoarse and angry.
“Lily?”
“Aunt Claire!”
“Oh, thank God. Honey, are you okay?”
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then Claire said, “Is she there?”
Lily looked at Richard.
“Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“She threw Teddy.”
Claire swore.
The chef dropped a spoon.
Lily looked impressed.
Claire continued, “Did she touch you?”
“No.”
“Elena’s with me.”
“Good. Put Elena on.”
Elena leaned closer.
“I’m here.”
“Do not leave Lily alone with Vanessa.”
“I won’t.”
“Not for one second.”
“I understand.”
Richard said, “Claire.”
The silence on the line became enormous.
Claire laughed once.
It sounded painful.
“Well.”
Richard gripped the edge of the island.
“Claire, I need you to tell me what happened.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not doing this over speakerphone with Lily sitting there.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“You’re right.”
Claire said, “Put her back on.”
Lily leaned in.
“I’m here.”
“Sweetheart, you remember the envelope in my bedroom closet?”
Lily nodded.
“Yes.”
“The one in the blue shoe box?”
“Yes.”
Richard looked at Elena.
Claire continued, “You are not to go get it. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“There are grown-ups who can handle it.”
Lily looked at Richard.
“Is Richard one?”
Claire was silent.
Then: “Maybe.”
Richard winced.
Lily asked, “Is he my dad?”
Claire breathed out slowly.
“I think so.”
Richard turned away.
Lily’s eyes filled.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Your mom asked me not to until you were older.”
“Why?”
“Because she was scared.”
“Of Richard?”
“No.”
Claire said it immediately.
Richard turned back.
“Then who?”
Claire ignored him.
“Lily, I love you. I need you to stay with Elena.”
“What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re in the hospital.”
“I’m annoyed, which means I’m fine.”
Lily smiled.
Claire said, “I’ll call you tonight.”
After the call ended, Richard stood with both hands flat on the counter.
Elena waited.
He finally said, “Blue shoe box.”
“You heard her tell Lily not to get it.”
“Yes.”
“So don’t.”
“I wasn’t going to send a six-year-old into an apartment.”
“You were thinking about the box.”
“Of course I was.”
“You’re going to need to be patient.”
His eyes flashed.
“I have been patient for six years.”
Elena lowered her voice.
“No. You have been unaware for six years. That is not the same thing.”
Richard looked at her.
The kitchen became very quiet.
Elena knew she had crossed a line.
She also knew she was right.
Richard’s shoulders dropped slightly.
“No,” he said. “It isn’t.”
That afternoon, Vanessa left the mansion.
She packed two suitcases.
Not three.
Elena noticed because Vanessa never traveled with fewer than three.
The black SUV waited at the front entrance while a houseman carried luggage down the stairs.
Vanessa descended in the burgundy suit she had worn during the confrontation. Her hair remained perfectly arranged.
Only the absence of her gold earrings suggested the day had touched her.
Richard stood in the foyer.
Lily was upstairs with Elena.
At least, she was supposed to be.
Elena discovered her halfway down the service staircase.
“Lily.”
“I just want to see.”
“This is adult business.”
“I am adult business.”
The statement stopped Elena.
Lily was not being clever.
She meant it.
Elena crouched.
“You are never business.”
“They’re fighting because of me.”
“They’re fighting because of choices adults made before you were born.”
“But if I wasn’t here—”
“Elena?”
Richard’s voice came from the foyer.
They had been discovered.
Lily looked guilty.
Richard stood at the bottom of the staircase.
He looked at Elena, then Lily.
“Were you eavesdropping?”
Lily considered the word.
“Yes.”
Richard nodded.
“At least you’re honest.”
Vanessa appeared behind him.
Her face hardened when she saw Lily.
Lily gripped the banister.
Vanessa said, “There she is.”
Richard turned.
“Stop.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You’ve done enough.”
Vanessa’s gaze remained on Lily.
“You have no idea what this child’s mother did.”
Richard stepped between them.
“Then tell me.”
Vanessa’s smile was brittle.
“You think you want that.”
“I do.”
“You think Rebecca was some innocent woman driven away by me?”
“I think you lied about where she went.”
“Yes.”
The admission was so simple that even Richard seemed unprepared for it.
Vanessa adjusted one cuff.
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because she was going to ruin you.”
“How?”
“She was pregnant.”
Richard stared.
Vanessa continued before he could speak.
“She came to me first.”
“Why would she come to you?”
“Because you weren’t answering your phone.”
Richard’s face tightened.
Vanessa looked at Lily.
“Your mother always had impeccable timing.”
Richard moved closer.
“Do not talk about Rebecca to her.”
“Why? She deserves the truth.”
“So do I.”
Vanessa’s eyes returned to him.
“She told me she was pregnant. She said she wanted to find you. You were in London finalizing the Helix acquisition.”
Richard’s breathing changed.
Elena remembered that acquisition. Everyone did. It had been the transaction that turned Hale Capital from a regional investment company into something financial magazines wrote about.
Vanessa said, “Your father was dying. The banks were nervous. Half your board wanted you removed. Rebecca showed up saying she was pregnant and didn’t know whether she wanted a life with you.”
Richard looked sick.
“You told me she had taken a job in Seattle.”
“She was considering it.”
“She never went.”
“No.”
“Did she ask you to tell me she was pregnant?”
Vanessa did not answer.
Richard stepped closer.
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
The word barely carried.
Lily made a sound.
Not a sob.
A small inhalation.
Richard turned toward her immediately.
Vanessa saw it.
Something ugly and wounded crossed her face.
“I did what I thought I had to do.”
Richard stared at her.
“You let me marry you knowing I had a child.”
“I didn’t know she kept it.”
“Kept her.”
Vanessa flinched.
Richard’s voice became colder.
“Her name is Lily.”
“I know her name.”
May you like
“Then use it.”
Vanessa gripped the handle of her cane.
