Chapter 16
Celeste asked to speak to Nora.
I said no.
She flinched.
“I want to apologize.”
“You want relief.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“Neither was throwing her onto marble.”
She looked at Mae.
“Then Mae.”
Mae answered herself.
“No.”
Celeste’s face hardened for half a second.
Old instinct.
Then disappeared.
Good.
She was learning that remorse does not create entitlement.
Marcus and Alistair were removed from Ashford property before dawn.
No grand punishment.
No spectacle.
No access.
No men.
No old favors.
Alistair hated irrelevance more than pain.
Celeste left separately.
She placed the engagement ring on the piano before going.
I picked it up.
Mae watched.
“What will you do with it?”
“I don’t know.”
She nodded.
We stood in silence.
Four years between us.
Nora asleep upstairs in my room.
My daughter.
The word still felt enormous.
“I should have found you.”
Mae looked at me.
“You were hurt.”
“I stopped looking.”
“You were lied to.”
“I still stopped.”
No excuse.
She appreciated that.
“I hated you,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“For a long time.”
“I know.”
“Then I hated myself for still hoping.”
That hurt.
I looked at the piano.
“I don’t expect anything from you.”
Her eyes lifted.
“Good.”
A tiny smile.
Not forgiveness.
Not romance.
Truth.
Upstairs, Nora woke crying.
I heard it through the monitor.
I moved instantly.
Mae almost laughed.
“What?”
“You run fast.”
“Yes.”
We went together.
Nora sat in the middle of my bed clutching her rabbit.
“Daddy?”
The word stopped me at the doorway.
First time.
Mae heard it too.
Nora looked uncertain.
“Is that okay?”
I crossed the room.
“Yes.”
She held up both arms.
I lifted her.
She touched my face again.
“Still looks like me.”
I laughed.
“So I’ve been told.”
Mae sat beside us.
No Celeste.
No threats.
No missing dinner.
May you like
Nora leaned against my chest.
And for the first time in her life, she fell asleep knowing her father knew exactly who she was.
