Daniel’s chest went cold.
“Being bad?”
Lily nodded.
Rachel gave a small laugh.
“She knows better than to move furniture without asking.”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“What did you do?”
Lily’s lips trembled.
“I broke something.”
“What did you break?”
She looked at Rachel.
Rachel answered for her.
“An old bracelet.”
Daniel frowned.
“What bracelet?”
Rachel crossed her arms.
“It was your mother’s.”
The words landed heavily.
Claire’s bracelet.
Daniel had kept almost everything connected to his first wife in a locked drawer in his study. Photographs. A wedding invitation. A hospital bracelet from Owen’s birth. Claire’s handwritten recipe cards.
But the bracelet had disappeared after Claire died.
Daniel had assumed he misplaced it.
“Where is it?” he asked.
Rachel pointed toward the cedar cabinet.
“She found it behind there.”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears again.
“I didn’t break it.”
Rachel’s expression softened.
“Sweetheart, I know you didn’t mean to.”
“But I didn’t!”
Daniel crouched.
“Lily, look at me.”
She did.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Her eyes moved toward Rachel again.
“I found Mommy’s bracelet.”
“Where?”
“Behind the cabinet.”
“And then?”
“I picked it up.”
Rachel interrupted gently.
“She became frightened and dropped it.”
“No.”
Lily’s voice was suddenly stronger.
“I didn’t drop it.”
Daniel felt something change in the hallway.
“What happened?”
Lily swallowed.
“Rachel took it.”
Rachel’s face tightened.
“Lily.”
“She took it from me.”
Daniel stood.
“Rachel, give us a minute.”
She stared at him.
“Daniel, this is ridiculous.”
“Please.”
For the first time, Rachel looked offended.
Then she smiled.
“Of course.”
She walked downstairs.
Daniel waited until he heard her footsteps disappear.
Then he turned back to Lily.
“What happened?”
Lily whispered, “She said Mommy’s things don’t belong in this house anymore.”
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
“She said that?”
Lily nodded.
“She said this is her house now.”
Daniel sat on the floor beside his daughter.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Lots of times.”
“What stopped you?”
Lily looked toward the staircase.
“She said you’d be sad.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“What else?”
“She said if I kept telling you things, you would send me away.”
His heart broke.
“Who told you that?”
“Rachel.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
He wanted to believe there was some explanation.
A misunderstanding.
A child’s fear.
Something innocent.
But then he remembered the way Lily had flinched when Rachel touched her shoulder.
He remembered the silence when he came home.
He remembered his daughter’s first instinct being to hide.
Daniel had spent years building a company by recognizing risks before they became disasters.
His daughter was seven.
And she was hiding from his wife.
That was a disaster.
“Did she hurt you?”
Lily shook her head.
“Not like that.”
“What does that mean?”
“She grabbed my arm yesterday.”
“Why?”
“Because I wouldn’t eat.”
Daniel looked at the faint red mark near Lily’s wrist.
He hadn’t noticed it before.
His voice became very quiet.
“Did she do that today?”
Lily shook her head.
“She said I had to stay upstairs.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did you eat?”
“A little toast.”
Daniel stood.
“Where’s Owen?”
“With the nanny.”
“What nanny?”
“Mrs. Harper.”
Daniel frowned.
Their regular nanny, Teresa, had resigned six weeks earlier.
Rachel had hired someone named Mrs. Harper.
Daniel had never met her.
He suddenly hated that fact.
“How long has she been here?”
“Since Mrs. Teresa left.”
“And Rachel stays with you?”
“Sometimes.”
“What do you mean sometimes?”
Lily lowered her eyes.
“She leaves.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel walked toward the bedroom.
Then he stopped.
“Lily, I need you to do something.”
“What?”
“If Rachel asks you what we talked about, you don’t have to lie.”
Lily looked frightened.
“Will she be mad?”
“I won’t let her hurt you.”
The words came out before Daniel had fully thought about them.
Lily stared at him.
Then she whispered, “Can I sleep in your room tonight?”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“Yes.”
She reached for his hand.
He took it.
As they walked downstairs, Rachel was standing in the kitchen.
She was holding a photograph.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
Claire.
Holding newborn Lily.
Rachel turned the photograph face down.
“Daniel, we need to talk.”
“Yes.”
“I think Lily is confused.”
“About what?”
“She misses her mother.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that have to do with you?”
Rachel sighed.
“She has been acting out for weeks.”
“Define acting out.”
“She refuses instructions. She cries when I correct her. She hides things. She has become increasingly attached to Claire’s belongings.”
“Because they’re her mother’s.”
Rachel looked uncomfortable.
“I know.”
“Then why did you tell her those things don’t belong in this house?”
Rachel froze.
Lily squeezed Daniel’s hand.
“I didn’t mean it the way she understood it.”
“What way did you mean?”
Rachel looked at Lily.
“Go upstairs, sweetheart.”
