Chapter 15 - Meredith’s First Lie
Caleb confronted Meredith inside the family consultation room.
She stood near the window, twisting her wedding ring.
“Who is Otis Frame?”
“I barely knew him.”
“You reacted to his name.”
“He worked for Dad.”
“Doing what?”
“Maintenance.”
Caleb stepped closer.
“Meredith.”
She looked at his uniform.
Then away.
“Dad had many employees.”
“Our daughter was burned in your father’s foundry.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew enough to be afraid of a maintenance worker’s name.”
Her eyes filled.
Caleb lowered his voice.
“I need the truth more than I need you to protect my feelings.”
“I am protecting Lily.”
“No. You are protecting your father.”
Meredith’s face tightened.
“You don’t understand him.”
“That is exactly what he told me.”
She began pacing.
“My father built this town. Hospitals, schools, jobs—”
“And a room where our daughter was hurt.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Lily said furnace.”
“She is medicated.”
“She recognized his bracelet.”
Meredith covered her ears.
“Stop.”
Caleb stared at her.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you hear?”
“Nothing.”
“What did Lily tell you?”
Meredith stopped moving.
That was the question.
Caleb saw it.
“She told you.”
Meredith began crying.
Not loudly.
Her shoulders folded inward.
“Three months ago, she asked if Grandpa could make people disappear.”
Caleb felt his blood turn cold.
“What did you say?”
“I told her he was joking.”
“Why would she ask that?”
“She said a man lived under the furnace.”
Caleb took one step backward.
“Otis?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“I asked Dad.”
“And?”
“He said Lily had overheard an old story.”
Caleb’s voice broke.
“You left her with him after that?”
Meredith looked at the floor.
“My father said she was trying to get attention because you were gone.”
Caleb’s grief turned into something heavier than rage.
Betrayal.
“You chose his explanation over our child.”
Meredith whispered, “I was scared.”
“So was Lily.”
The words struck her harder than a shout.
She sank into a chair.
Caleb walked toward the door.
Behind him, Meredith said, “Otis Frame did not work maintenance.”
Caleb stopped.
“He managed my father’s private problems.”
👉 Meredith finally admitted Otis was more than an employee—but she still had not revealed why Warren wanted Lily terrified of the man beneath the furnace.
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