The Girl Who Finally Spoke
Chapter 3 - What Lily Heard
The next morning, Alexander did not question Lily directly.
Her therapist warned him not to pressure her.
Instead, he allowed Elena to sit with her again.
Lily ate half a piece of toast.
It was more than she had eaten in days.
Elena sat on the floor beside her.
"Can I ask you something?"
Lily nodded.
"How did you know my name?"
The child's fingers tightened around the teddy bear.
"Mama told me."
Alexander, listening from outside the room, felt his heart stop.
Elena remained calm.
"When?"
"Before she went away."
Catherine had died three weeks earlier after falling from a balcony at the family's lake house.
Police ruled it an accident.
She had been alone.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
"What did she tell you about me?"
Lily lowered her head.
"That you might come."
Elena's eyes filled.
"Did she say why?"
Lily nodded.
"Mama said she did something bad."
Alexander entered the room before he could stop himself.
Lily immediately stiffened.
He crouched.
"I'm sorry. I'm not angry."
She looked at him uncertainly.
Alexander sat farther away.
"Did Mommy tell you what she did?"
Lily hugged the bear.
"She said she stole me."
No one moved.
Alexander could hear his own heartbeat.
Elena covered her mouth.
Lily continued in the soft, careful voice of a child repeating words she did not fully understand.
"She said Aunt Elena was my first mommy."
Elena began crying silently.
Alexander stared at his daughter.
His daughter.
Whatever biology said, Lily was still the child he had raised.
But now he understood why Catherine had hidden her sister's existence.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked.
Lily's face changed.
Fear.
"Mommy said Grandma would get mad."
Margaret.
Alexander slowly stood.
His mother had been the one person Catherine trusted throughout the secret pregnancy.
She arranged the private clinic.
She found the doctors.
She handled the birth certificate.
She was also the person who hired an attorney after Catherine's death and insisted they remove certain documents from the lake house before police returned.
Alexander looked toward the hallway.
His mother was standing there.
She had heard everything.
Margaret did not look surprised.
She looked defeated.
"You knew", Alexander said.
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
