Chapter 3 - What Lily Heard
Diane stared at the papers as though they were poisonous.
“This cannot be legal.”
Naomi looked at her.
“It is extremely legal.”
Thomas rubbed both hands over his face.
I felt strangely calm.
Maybe shock had finally overwhelmed fear.
I looked at Ryan.
“You emptied forty thousand dollars from our account three weeks ago.”
He said nothing.
“The same week this was signed.”
Still nothing.
“What did you spend it on?”
Ryan’s eyes moved toward Lily.
That was enough.
I stepped between them.
“Do not look at her.”
Lily tightened her grip on my hand.
Then she whispered something I almost didn’t hear.
“Mom.”
I knelt.
“What?”
“I know where Dad put papers.”
Ryan’s head snapped toward her.
“Lily.”
She recoiled.
I stood immediately.
“Do not raise your voice at her.”
Lily looked at Naomi.
“Are you a lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“My dad said lawyers can make things disappear.”
Ryan lunged for his chair as if he needed something to steady himself.
I felt cold spread through my body.
“Lily, when did he say that?”
“Last Saturday.”
“Who was he talking to?”
“Grandma.”
Diane’s face changed.
Thomas turned slowly toward his wife.
Lily continued.
“I came downstairs because I wanted water.”
She looked frightened now.
“They were in Grandpa’s office.”
“What did you hear?”
She hesitated.
I squeezed her hand.
“You aren’t in trouble.”
“Dad said they only had to keep you away from Grandpa Charles until the company sold.”
The room became absolutely silent.
Diane stood.
“She misunderstood.”
Lily looked directly at her.
“No, I didn’t.”
Diane’s mouth closed.
My ten-year-old daughter took one slow breath.
“Grandma said, ‘We already kept them apart for six years.’”
Something inside me broke open.
Six years.
That was exactly how long Dad and I had been estranged.
I turned toward Ryan.
He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
Six years earlier, my father and I had fought after Ryan showed me an email supposedly written by Dad.
In it, Dad had called Ryan a parasite.
He had threatened to remove me from the family trust if I stayed married.
I had been devastated.
Dad later denied writing it.
Ryan told me he was lying.
I believed my husband.
Now I looked at Naomi.
“Do you still have that email?”
Her eyes sharpened.
“What email?”
I described it.
My father’s voice came quietly through the phone.
“Emily.”
I closed my eyes.
“You never wrote it.”
“No.”
Ryan abruptly pushed his chair away.
“This is over.”
Naomi blocked his path.
“Actually, it has barely started.”
Then Lily tugged my sleeve again.
“There’s something else.”
May you like
She pointed toward the hallway.
“The papers are still in Grandpa’s office.”
