Chapter 2
The police arrived through the back gate because Victoria was still screaming on the patio.
She had changed her story three times before they even stepped inside.
First, Grace attacked her.
Then Lily broke something priceless.
Then I misunderstood what I saw.
But the kitchen told the truth.
The hockey stick on the floor.
Grace’s bruised shoulder.
Lily’s shaking hands.
The security camera above the pantry.
Victoria saw me look at it, and all the color left her face.
Officer Daniels followed my gaze.
“Does that record?”
“Yes.”
Victoria snapped, “Nathan, you wouldn’t.”
I stared at her.
“You raised a stick over a three-year-old.”
“She is not yours.”
Lily flinched.
I turned my body so she could not see Victoria anymore.
Grace sat on the floor with a paramedic checking her shoulder.
She kept trying to stand.
The paramedic kept telling her not to.
“I need Lily,” she said.
“She’s right here,” I told her.
Lily reached for Grace with one hand and kept the other locked around my collar.
That tiny grip nearly broke me.
The officer took statements.
Mine was simple.
“I opened the door and saw Victoria standing over Grace and Lily with a hockey stick. Grace was shielding Lily. Victoria raised the stick again. Lily called me Daddy. Grace told me Lily is my daughter.”
Officer Daniels looked up.
“Is that true?”
Grace’s eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
My voice barely worked.
“I need a DNA test.”
Victoria laughed from the doorway.
“There. He doesn’t even believe you.”
I turned to her.
“I believe enough to protect them.”
Her smile vanished.
The officers asked Victoria to step outside.
She refused.
Then she made the worst mistake she could have made.
She pointed at Grace and said, “Do you know what kind of woman hides a bastard child in a rich man’s house?”
The kitchen went silent.
Even the paramedic looked up.
Lily whispered, “Bad word?”
I covered her ear with one hand.
Officer Daniels said, “Ma’am, turn around.”
Victoria blinked.
“What?”
“You’re under arrest for assault.”
Her mouth opened.
“Nathan, do something.”
I did.
I watched them put cuffs on her.
She looked at me like I had betrayed her.
Maybe I had.
But only because she thought loyalty meant protecting cruelty.
When they led her out, my mother arrived.
Eleanor Blackwood never ran.
She ran that day.
“Nathan!”
She stopped at the kitchen door when she saw Grace on the floor and Lily in my arms.
Her eyes landed on the child’s face.
Then the birthmark.
Her hand went to her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
Lily stared at her.
My mother took one step closer.
“Nathan…”
“I know.”
Grace tried to lower her eyes.
My mother dropped to her knees beside her.
“Grace, what happened?”
Grace started crying.
Not loud.
Just like something inside her finally cracked.
“I tried to leave before anyone got hurt.”
My mother looked at me.
There was pain in her face.
And guilt.
“I knew you looked familiar,” she whispered to Lily.
Lily hid her face in my shirt.
My mother did not reach for her.
That mattered.
She simply said, “Hello, sweetheart. I’m Eleanor.”
Lily peeked out.
“Are you mad?”
My mother’s face crumpled.
“No, baby. I’m so sorry.”
The paramedics insisted Grace go to the hospital.
She resisted until Lily began crying.
Then she stopped fighting.
At the hospital, Lily sat on my lap in the waiting room while my mother made calls.
Lawyer.
Doctor.
Security.
Wedding planner.
That one made my head snap up.
“Cancel everything,” I said.
My mother nodded.
“I already did.”
No hesitation.
No questions about reputation.
No concern for deposits.
Just done.
Grace was in imaging when Lily fell asleep against my chest.
I stared at her small face.
Three years old.
Three years I had missed.
First steps.
First words.
Fevers.
Birthdays.
Nightmares.
All of it.
Gone.
Because Grace never told me.
Because maybe she was afraid.
Because maybe someone made sure she stayed afraid.
When Grace returned, her arm was in a sling.
No broken bones.
Deep bruising.
Soft tissue injury.
She looked exhausted.
“Where’s Lily?”
“With me.”
Her eyes softened when she saw our daughter sleeping.
Our daughter.
The words still shook me.
I sat beside her bed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Grace looked away.
“I tried.”
My chest tightened.
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
I went still.
“What?”
“I sent you a letter after I found out I was pregnant.”
“I never got a letter.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“How do you know?”
May you like
Her eyes filled.
“Because your father came to my apartment.”
