Chapter 7 - The Other Children
There were twenty-three names.
Some were children of Diane’s friends.
Some were children Vanessa had photographed at birthday parties.
Several were young clients who had appeared on Vanessa’s beauty channel.
At least nine files contained questionable parental releases.
Three parents told Jonah they had never signed anything.
One mother started crying when she learned her son’s face had been used in an advertisement.
Another hung up and called the police herself.
The story was no longer about one haircut.
It was about a system.
Vanessa found children who photographed well.
Diane handled paperwork.
BrightHouse connected brands and campaigns.
Money moved through trusts that parents often didn’t know existed.
Some money reached the children.
Some disappeared.
The police asked Ryan and me to come in for formal statements.
I told them everything.
Including what I had done to Vanessa.
The detective didn’t praise me.
He didn’t excuse me.
He wrote it down.
I understood.
Vanessa had committed something terrible against Lily.
That didn’t make every choice I made afterward legal.
When I left the interview room, Ryan was waiting.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He took my hand.
“Me neither.”
For the first time since this began, I admitted what had been eating at me.
“I shouldn’t have used the clippers on her.”
Ryan looked at me.
“I understand why you did.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
“No.”
He squeezed my hand.
“But you stopped.”
I nodded.
“I don’t ever want Lily thinking revenge is the same thing as protection.”
That night, I sat beside Lily’s bed.
She had finally stopped wearing the yellow hat inside the house.
Her uneven hair framed her face.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Is Aunt Vanessa mad at me?”
My throat tightened.
“No.”
“She looked mad.”
“What Aunt Vanessa feels is not your responsibility.”
Lily thought about that.
“Is Chloe mad?”
“No.”
“Can Chloe still be my cousin?”
I smiled despite everything.
“Always.”
She relaxed.
Then she asked something I wasn’t prepared for.
“Will my hair grow back the same?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“A while.”
She touched the short patch above her ear.
Then she whispered.
“I don’t want people looking at me.”
I climbed into bed beside her.
“Then they can look at me instead.”
That made her smile.
A tiny one.
But I saw it.
The next morning, Ryan received an email from his employer.
The subject line contained only two words.
Immediate Meeting.
Attached was an anonymous complaint accusing him and me of exploiting Lily for money.
May you like
Vanessa had made her first move.
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