Chapter 4
Daniel denied everything.
Poorly.
“Mother says things.”
Margaret turned on him.
“Don’t hide behind me.”
Interesting.
I looked between them.
“What baby?”
Margaret smiled coldly.
“Not yours.”
Daniel’s face changed.
There.
I saw it.
Not confusion.
Fear.
I stepped closer.
“Who is pregnant?”
“No one.”
Mark entered the library.
He had heard enough from the hallway.
“Daniel.”
My husband glared.
“Stay out of this.”
Mark looked at me.
Then at Lily’s wrist.
Then back at his brother.
“You chained your own daughter.”
“I didn’t.”
“You ordered her to stay there.”
“That’s different.”
Lily whispered:
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She stared at Daniel.
“You said Grandma could.”
My husband’s face tightened.
Margaret laughed.
“Children distort.”
I looked at Lily.
“What else did they say?”
Margaret snapped:
“Stop interrogating her.”
I turned.
“Afraid of a three-year-old?”
Her smile disappeared.
Lily took a breath.
“Grandma said Daddy gets a good girl soon.”
Silence.
“A good girl?”
Lily nodded.
“One who listens.”
I looked at Daniel.
“What does that mean?”
Nothing.
Mark suddenly said:
“Savannah.”
Daniel’s head snapped toward him.
Margaret’s face changed.
I turned to Mark.
“Who?”
He hesitated.
Then:
“Savannah Price.”
The name meant something.
Daughter of Victor Price.
A neighboring crew with old ties to Margaret.
Twenty-seven.
Recently returned from Europe.
I had seen her twice in six months.
Always near Daniel.
“What about her?”
Mark looked at his brother.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
Mark continued.
“Mother has been meeting Victor Price.”
Margaret smiled bitterly.
“Meeting people is not treason.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Is Savannah pregnant?”
No answer.
That was enough.
Lily pressed against me.
I suddenly understood why Margaret wanted the DNA lie.
Not because she doubted Lily.
May you like
Because she needed a story where my daughter never belonged.
A story clean enough to replace us.
