Chapter 14 - THE VIEW FROM ABOVE
The balcony video was short and shaky, but it showed Lily and Caroline clearly.
Lily stood on the landing, one hand on the rail. Caroline leaned toward her. Lily shook her head.
Caroline reached for her. Lily pulled back. Then Caroline shoved her shoulder.
Daniel turned away before the fall finished.
Bennett paused the video. “The guest sent this to the hotel after hearing about our investigation. He didn’t realize what he had captured.”
“Have you shown Caroline?”
“Her attorney has a copy.”
Caroline gave another statement. This time, she admitted making contact with Lily, but claimed she had been trying to stop her from falling.
The angle from the balcony showed Lily standing still before Caroline reached out.
Naomi took Daniel through the family court process. Bennett handled the criminal investigation. Daniel wanted answers faster than either could give him, but Lily needed ordinary days, too.
He took her to school when her doctor cleared her. He learned how to tie her shoes while her wrist was in a cast. On Friday, they finally picked up a replacement cake with blue frosting.
Evan came over that evening. He stood awkwardly in Ruth’s doorway until Lily ran to show him her cast.
“Can I sign it?” he asked.
“Only if you don’t write something boring.”
He drew a crooked blue star.
Later, Evan found Daniel in the kitchen.
“I should’ve handed Bennett my phone the first night,” he said.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel looked at the star on Lily’s cast. “Keep showing up for her.”
“I will.”
A week after the party, Caroline was charged in connection with Lily’s fall. Victor faced a separate investigation into the forged company records and the warehouse deal. The board removed him as chair.
Daniel didn’t celebrate any of it. Caroline was still Lily’s mother, and Lily still asked questions he couldn’t answer.
One evening, as he tucked her in, she said, “Was Mom angry because I wouldn’t tell her where your paper was?”
“She made her own choice,” Daniel said. “You didn’t cause it.”
Lily studied him. “Do you believe me?”
“Every word.”
She reached beneath her pillow and pulled out a folded sheet.
“I found this in the album,” she said. “I was scared to give it to you.”
May you like
Daniel recognized his father’s handwriting on the outside.
It was addressed to him.
