Chapter 2 - The Photograph at the Door)
Grace did not sleep.
She checked every lock twice.
Then she dragged a chair beneath the front door handle even though she knew it would do little against someone truly determined to enter.
Lily slept through everything.
That frightened Grace more than if she had been awake.
Her daughter had no idea that somewhere in the city, someone had followed them home.
At six in the morning Grace called Mrs. Alden and said Lily was sick.
She expected irritation.
Instead Mrs. Alden said, "Take the day."
Grace hesitated.
"Mrs. Alden, has anyone asked about me?"
There was a pause.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing."
Grace almost told her.
But the photograph changed everything.
She did not know whom she could trust.
By eight, Lily was eating cereal while Grace studied the picture again.
The angle bothered her.
The photograph had been taken inside Morrell House.
That meant the person threatening her either worked there or had access to the private floors.
On the television behind Lily, financial news played without sound.
Adrian Morrell's face appeared.
Grace reached for the remote.
The caption beneath his photograph referred to a board vote scheduled for the following week.
She turned up the volume.
A reporter explained that Morrell Holdings was preparing to restructure control of several family trusts following the expected birth of Adrian's first child.
Grace stopped moving.
The expected birth.
A financial analyst appeared.
"The Morrell family trust contains an unusual generational provision created by Daniel Morrell in 1978. Upon confirmation of a direct biological descendant in the next generation, a substantial block of voting shares transfers into a protected descendant trust."
Grace listened carefully.
"If Adrian Morrell's child is born as expected, the trust could change the balance of power within Morrell Holdings."
Grace looked at the ultrasound report.
Suddenly the fake pregnancy had a motive.
Not love.
Not attention.
Control.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then she answered.
"Grace Ellis?"
A man's voice.
"Who is this?"
"You have something that belongs to Miss Clarke."
Grace's throat tightened.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Return the paper."
She said nothing.
The man continued.
"Bring it to the reception tomorrow night."
Grace looked toward Lily.
"If you come near my daughter again, I'll call the police."
The man laughed quietly.
"Then you should ask yourself why we aren't worried about the police."
The call ended.
Grace immediately contacted an old friend named Paula who worked at a legal aid office.
She did not tell Paula everything.
Only that she had found medical documents that appeared fraudulent and had received a threat.
Paula's advice was simple.
"Make copies."
Grace did.
Three.
One went into a safe deposit envelope at Paula's office.
One remained in her apartment.
The third she carried.
Then she searched Adrian Morrell's public biography.
Thirty seven.
Unmarried.
Only child of Richard and Caroline Morrell.
Caroline had died when Adrian was thirteen.
Richard had died eleven months earlier from cardiac complications.
Adrian had taken control of Morrell Holdings afterward.
Vanessa Clarke had appeared publicly with him two months after Richard's funeral.
They announced the pregnancy four months later.
Then Grace found something strange.
A photograph from a Morrell Foundation dinner seven years earlier.
Vanessa was in the background.
She was younger, but unmistakable.
She stood beside Samuel Voss.
The same disgraced doctor whose name appeared on the falsified ultrasound.
Grace zoomed in.
A third person stood with them.
Richard Morrell.
Grace felt a chill.
Vanessa had known Adrian's father years before she supposedly met Adrian.
Why had no one mentioned that?
When Lily finished breakfast, Grace took her to Paula's apartment.
"You'll stay here tonight."
Lily immediately protested.
"I want to go to the big party."
"No."
"You said I could wear my red dress."
Grace crouched in front of her.
"Plans changed."
Lily studied her mother's face.
"Is it because of the belly lady?"
Grace went still.
Children noticed everything.
"Why do you call her that?"
"Because she was mad."
"About what?"
"Me seeing the pillows."
Grace touched Lily's cheek.
"Did you see anything else in Miss Vanessa's room?"
Lily thought.
"A black thing."
"What black thing?"
"In the little box."
Grace's pulse increased.
"What did it look like?"
"Like Grandpa's old key."
Grace's father had worked as a maintenance supervisor before his death. Lily remembered the large labeled keys he carried.
"Did it have anything on it?"
Lily nodded.
"An M."
Grace stared.
She did not yet understand what that key opened.
But someone clearly believed it mattered.
The following afternoon, Mrs. Alden called.
"Miss Clarke asked whether you were returning for the reception."
Grace almost said no.
Then she thought about the financial report.
The fake pregnancy.
Richard Morrell.
Samuel Voss.
The key.
The threat.
If Grace stayed away, Vanessa would know she was afraid.
Worse, whatever Vanessa intended to do at the reception would continue.
"I'll be there."
"And your daughter?"
Grace looked at Lily, who was listening from across the room.
"She'll stay with a friend."
Lily's face fell.
Grace ended the call.
That should have been the end of it.
At six thirty the next evening, Paula called with an emergency involving her own mother and could no longer watch Lily.
Grace tried three other people.
Nobody was available.
She considered missing the reception.
Then another message arrived from the unknown number.
Tonight.
Bring the original.
Come alone.
Grace stared at the screen.
She understood immediately.
If she did not go, whoever had threatened her might come looking again.
At least Morrell House would be full of guests and security.
So Grace made a decision she would later question a hundred times.
She dressed Lily in the dark red sequined dress purchased for a school holiday recital.
She braided her hair.
And before entering the car, Grace knelt in front of her.
"You stay beside me tonight."
Lily nodded.
"You do not wander."
"I won't."
"You do not open doors."
"I won't."
"And if I tell you to run to Mrs. Alden, you run."
Lily's expression became serious.
"Are bad people at the party?"
Grace forced a smile.
"No."
Lily continued looking at her.
Grace finally whispered, "I don't know."
When they arrived at Morrell House, Vanessa was standing at the top of the grand staircase.
She wore an ivory satin gown.
Her belly looked larger than it had two days earlier.
Perfectly round.
Perfectly convincing.
Vanessa looked directly at Grace.
Then at Lily.
And for one terrible second, her expression showed exactly what she felt.
Fear.
May you like
Not because Grace had returned.
Because Lily had.
