Chapter 3 - chelsea’s warning
Chelsea Hale appeared outside Leah’s apartment that evening.
She wore an expensive cream coat and held a shopping bag containing a bottle of wine, two boxes of chocolates and a red velvet dress in Maisie’s size.
Leah did not invite her inside.
“What do you want?”
Chelsea lifted the bag.
“Christmas peace offering?”
“We haven’t had peace since you told Dad where I was staying after I left home.”
“That was twelve years ago.”
“And he found me twelve hours later.”
Chelsea lowered the bag.
“I was nineteen. He said you were unstable.”
“He always says that about women he can’t control.”
“Can I come in?”
“No.”
Chelsea glanced down the corridor.
“I know Margaret Mercer contacted you.”
Leah’s heartbeat changed.
“How?”
“Dad has someone watching her.”
“Did he send you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To tell you not to attend Christmas dinner.”
Maisie laughed from inside the apartment as a cartoon played on television.
Chelsea’s face softened at the sound.
“Dad is planning something,” she said quietly. “He keeps talking about a family vote and a public statement.”
“What statement?”
“That you rejected the family years ago and should have no future claim.”
“I don’t have a claim.”
Chelsea’s eyes moved toward the apartment.
“Maybe Maisie does.”
Leah kept her expression blank.
“What did you hear?”
“Dad and his attorney were arguing. I only heard part of it. The attorney said the child had to be physically present.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try harder.”
Chelsea looked offended, then ashamed.
“I’m trying now.”
“After how many years?”
“I know what I did.”
“No, you know what Dad told you to do.”
“I’m not here to fight.”
“Then tell me why you brought a dress.”
Chelsea looked at the red velvet fabric.
“Mom asked me to buy it. She said Maisie should wear red.”
“That is strangely specific.”
“I thought so too.”
Leah folded her arms.
“Is Sophie coming?”
Chelsea’s daughter was ten, only a year older than Maisie. The cousins had met once and liked each other immediately. Richard had ended the visit when Sophie offered Maisie a bracelet bearing the Hale family crest.
Chelsea looked away.
“Sophie will be with her father.”
“On Christmas?”
“He changed the custody schedule.”
“Or you asked him to keep her away.”
Chelsea’s silence answered the question.
“Why does Maisie need to be present while Sophie doesn’t?” Leah asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes, because I’m terrified.”
The honesty in Chelsea’s voice made Leah pause.
Chelsea set the shopping bag on the floor.
“Dad went into Grandpa’s old room last night. He thought everyone was asleep, but I saw him carrying out a metal box. He burned papers in the fireplace.”
“What kind of papers?”
“I couldn’t read them. One page had a photograph attached.”
“Of whom?”
“A baby.”
Leah felt cold.
Chelsea reached into her coat and removed a partially burned strip of paper.
“I took this from the ashes.”
Only part of a typed sentence remained.
Should Leah accept guardianship of the minor child, the bloodline provision shall be considered fulfilled.
Leah read it twice.
“Where is the rest?”
“Gone.”
“Who is the minor child?”
Chelsea looked toward the apartment again.
“You know who Dad thinks it is.”
“Maisie is adopted. She isn’t part of the Hale bloodline.”
“I know what we were told.”
“What does that mean?”
Chelsea’s phone buzzed.
She checked the screen and stepped back.
“It’s Dad.”
“Answer it.”
“No.”
“Chelsea.”
“You don’t understand. He knows when I ignore him.”
“You’re thirty-one years old.”
“That has never mattered in our family.”
The phone continued vibrating.
Chelsea moved toward the elevator.
“Don’t come to Christmas dinner,” she repeated.
“You just told me Maisie may be connected to a hidden bloodline provision.”
“And that is why you should stay away.”
The elevator doors opened.
Before entering, Chelsea turned back.
“Grandpa did not trust Dad. But toward the end, he did not trust Mom either.”
The doors closed.
Leah looked at the burned sentence in her hand.
Inside the apartment, Maisie called her name.
Leah entered and locked the door.
May you like
On the coffee table rested the red velvet dress.
Leah was certain she had left the shopping bag in the hallway.
