Chapter 10 - Bringing Lily Home
Alessia refused at first.
“No.”
Jonathan sat across from her.
“The plan only works if Garrett believes he still controls the evening.”
“I’m not using Lily as bait.”
“No one is suggesting that.”
“You just told me he expects her at the gala.”
“I’m telling you we need him to believe his plan remains possible.”
Alessia stood.
“Find another way.”
Jonathan nodded.
They did.
Lily would return to the mansion only 90 minutes before the gala, accompanied at all times by Cecilia and 2 plainclothes security specialists hired by Alessia.
She would remain in Alessia’s private suite until Alessia personally brought her downstairs.
Garrett would not be allowed alone with her.
The district attorney’s investigators would also attend the gala undercover.
The goal was not to provoke violence.
The goal was to capture Garrett attempting to use fabricated records or coercive behavior against Alessia.
If anything became unsafe, the evening ended immediately.
Alessia explained only part of this to Lily.
“You’re coming to the party for a little while.”
Lily frowned.
“Garrett will be there?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You won’t be alone.”
Lily looked at her.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Grandma Evelyn?”
“She’ll be there too.”
Lily became quiet.
Alessia knelt.
“You never have to talk to either of them.”
Lily nodded.
Then she reached into her backpack.
“I found something else.”
Alessia’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
Lily removed a folded piece of paper.
It was a crude drawing of the west room.
The table.
The chairs.
The camera.
And a small square beside the wall.
“What is this?”
“A box.”
“What box?”
“The one Grandma hides.”
“Where?”
Lily pointed to the square.
“Behind the picture.”
Alessia immediately called Jonathan.
That afternoon, while Garrett and Evelyn were away, investigators entered the west room with Alessia’s permission as property owner.
Behind a framed landscape was a recessed safe.
The combination was not 1014.
They obtained a warrant and opened it.
Inside were 74,000 dollars in cash.
Forged medical documents.
Copies of Lily’s trust.
A bottle of the same cardiac medication linked to Vincent’s death.
And a sealed envelope containing photographs of Alessia taken over the previous 4 years.
Hundreds of them.
At restaurants.
At work.
With Lily.
At the cemetery beside her father’s grave.
Some were dated before Alessia met Garrett.
At the bottom of the safe was a notebook.
Evelyn’s handwriting.
Page after page documented Alessia’s routines.
Weaknesses.
Friends.
Financial decisions.
Emotional state.
One entry was dated 2 weeks after Vincent’s death.
A is isolated and exhausted. G should approach through hospital foundation. Sympathy first. Never mention Vincent.
Alessia read the sentence without blinking.
Jonathan stood beside her.
“You don’t have to keep reading.”
“Yes, I do.”
Another entry.
A responds well when G includes Lily. Child is the door.
Alessia’s hand tightened around the notebook.
Lily had never been a person to them.
She had been access.
A weakness.
A key.
Then she found an entry from 3 months earlier.
L becoming observant. E recommends corrective discipline. G reluctant but agrees A must believe L is unstable, dishonest, increasingly difficult.
Alessia closed the notebook.
“He knew.”
Jonathan nodded.
“He knew exactly what Evelyn was doing to Lily.”
Any remaining doubt died there.
The man Alessia married had not simply failed to protect her daughter.
He had participated.
Investigators removed the evidence.
But they left the safe appearing untouched.
The gala would proceed the following night.
At dinner, Garrett seemed unusually relaxed.
He poured wine for Alessia.
“To tomorrow.”
She lifted her glass without drinking.
“To tomorrow.”
Evelyn smiled from across the table.
“It will be memorable.”
Alessia looked at her.
“I’m counting on it.”
After dinner, Garrett followed Alessia upstairs.
He closed the bedroom door.
“We need to talk.”
Alessia turned.
“About?”
“Lily.”
Every muscle in her body tightened.
“What about her?”
“I think Cecilia is becoming a problem.”
“How?”
“She encourages Lily’s behavior.”
“What behavior?”
“Defiance.”
Alessia stared at him.
“She’s 6.”
Garrett sighed.
“You always do that.”
“Do what?”
“Reduce everything to her age.”
“Because she is 6.”
“She lies.”
“About what?”
Garrett studied her.
Alessia knew this was the moment.
He was testing her.
“About me,” he said.
She did not move.
“What does she say?”
“That I frighten her.”
“Do you?”
His face hardened.
“Of course not.”
Alessia nodded.
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
Garrett stepped closer.
“You believe her?”
Alessia smiled faintly.
“She’s my daughter.”
For half a second, his mask disappeared.
And Alessia finally saw the man underneath.
Not charming.
Not patient.
Not loving.
Angry.
Calculating.
Threatened.
Then the mask returned.
He kissed her forehead.
“Tomorrow will be good for us.”
Alessia watched him leave.
Then she locked the door.
At 1:13 a.m., her phone vibrated.
May you like
A message from Rosa.
He found the camera.
