Chapter 2 - BETWEEN THE LINES
“What are you reading?”
Lily glanced down at the worn paperback in her hands.
“*Jane Eyre*.”
“One of your favorites?”
“I think so. I’ve never finished it.”
Daniel leaned against the staff-lounge doorway. “Why not?”
“The copy at Maple House was missing the last thirty pages.” A shy smile touched her mouth. “I found this one at a used bookstore for two dollars. It has all the pages, so I’m starting over.”
Daniel noticed that several passages had been underlined in pencil.
“You write in your books?”
“Only the ones I own.”
“What did you underline?”
Lily hesitated before turning the book toward him.
Daniel read the marked sentence silently. It was about dignity having nothing to do with wealth or appearance.
“That line means something to you,” he said.
“It should mean something to everyone.”
Her answer surprised him.
Most people who entered the Caldwell estate seemed intimidated by his money. They praised the mansion, the view of the Hudson, his collection of cars, or the paintings Evelyn had spent years acquiring.
Lily appeared more impressed by a complete secondhand book.
“Are you planning to attend college?” he asked.
“If I can afford it.”
“What would you study?”
“Literature. Maybe education.”
“You want to teach?”
Lily’s expression softened. “There was a teacher at my high school named Mrs. Alvarez. She was the first person who made me feel like where I started didn’t have to decide where I ended.”
Daniel felt something tighten inside his chest.
“My father used to say the same thing.”
Before Lily could reply, Evelyn’s voice cut through the room.
“Daniel.”
They turned.
Evelyn stood in the hallway wearing a cream cashmere sweater and a look of restrained annoyance.
“I’ve been waiting in the breakfast room for fifteen minutes.”
“I didn’t know we had plans.”
“Victoria is coming.”
Daniel checked his watch. “She isn’t due until noon.”
“She arrived early.”
At the sound of that name, someone behind Evelyn laughed.
“I’ve always believed punctuality is a form of respect.”
Victoria Caldwell stepped into view.
At fifty-six, Daniel’s older sister carried herself with the confidence of someone who had never entered a room without expecting to control it. Her dark silver-streaked hair was swept into a perfect knot, and her charcoal suit looked sharp enough to cut glass.
Victoria had helped Daniel build Caldwell Meridian Properties. She served as the company’s chief legal officer, sat on its board, and handled every crisis with chilling efficiency.
She had also been Evelyn’s closest companion during the twenty years since baby Lillian disappeared.
Victoria had answered midnight calls, attended every meeting with detectives, and held Evelyn’s hand when false leads collapsed. She never forgot Lillian’s birthday. Every February, she placed white roses in the mansion’s chapel.
Evelyn considered her family in every possible meaning of the word.
Victoria’s gaze moved from Daniel to Lily.
For one brief second, all the color left her face.
The change was so quick that Daniel nearly missed it.
“Victoria?” he asked.
She recovered immediately. “I didn’t realize we had new staff.”
“This is Lily Morgan,” Evelyn said. “She started last month.”
Lily closed her book and stood. “Good morning.”
Victoria stared at her.
Not casually.
Not politely.
She examined Lily’s hazel eyes, the curve of her cheek, and the narrow bridge of her nose. Then her attention dropped to the silver pendant resting against Lily’s blouse.
Her fingers tightened around the leather folder she carried.
“Where did you get that necklace?” Victoria asked.
Lily touched the pendant.
“Someone gave it to me.”
“Who?”
“Mrs. Grace Bennett. She worked at the youth home where I grew up.”
Daniel saw the muscles in his sister’s jaw harden.
“Maple House?” Victoria asked.
Lily blinked. “Yes.”
“How did you know?”
Victoria smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
“I’m familiar with several charities in Westchester County.”
“Victoria sits on a dozen boards,” Evelyn explained. “She remembers everything.”
Victoria’s eyes remained fixed on the pendant.
“May I see it?”
Lily instinctively closed her hand around it. “I’d rather not take it off.”
The silence that followed was uncomfortable.
Victoria raised one eyebrow.
Lily’s cheeks reddened. “I’m sorry. Mrs. Bennett told me never to lose it.”
“Then you should certainly be careful.”
Daniel stepped between them slightly.
“Lily is on her lunch break.”
“Of course,” Victoria said. “We wouldn’t want to interrupt.”
Evelyn turned toward the hall.
“Lily, when you’re finished, the guest rooms in the west wing need fresh linens.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As Daniel followed the two women away, he glanced back.
Lily had returned to her chair, but she was no longer reading. She was watching Victoria disappear down the corridor with a puzzled expression.
In the breakfast room, Victoria poured coffee she did not drink.
“Where did you find her?” she asked.
Evelyn spread marmalade across a piece of toast.
“She answered an advertisement.”
“Who checked her references?”
“Mrs. Carter.”
“And her background?”
“Victoria, she cleans bedrooms. She doesn’t handle classified government documents.”
“She has access to your private rooms.”
Evelyn looked up. “What are you suggesting?”
“Nothing. I’m advising caution.”
Daniel sat across from them. “She passed the background check.”
“A twenty-year-old with no family and no history before infancy doesn’t have much of a background to check.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know she has no family?”
Victoria lifted her cup.
“She said she grew up at Maple House.”
“That doesn’t mean she arrived there as an infant.”
Victoria did not answer immediately.
Evelyn placed her knife beside her plate.
“Is something wrong?”
“No.”
“Then why are you acting as if you’ve seen a ghost?”
Victoria’s cup struck the saucer with a faint click.
“I was surprised by her resemblance to someone.”
Daniel knew before Evelyn asked.
“To whom?”
Victoria looked toward the window.
“To you, when you were younger.”
Evelyn gave a strained laugh, but her face had changed.
“That’s absurd.”
“Of course it is,” Victoria said quickly. “People see patterns where none exist. Especially after loss.”
Daniel studied his sister.
In business negotiations, Victoria could conceal a lie better than anyone he knew.
Today, however, she had answered too quickly.
After breakfast, Daniel left for Manhattan. Evelyn went upstairs to prepare for a charity luncheon, and Lily carried fresh sheets toward the west wing.
Victoria waited until the corridor was empty before entering Daniel’s study.
She closed the door and locked it.
Then she removed her phone and searched for Maple House Youth Home.
The first number went to an automated line.
The second connected her to the administrative office.
“My name is Victoria Caldwell,” she said. “I need information about a former resident named Lily Morgan.”
The woman on the other end explained that records were confidential.
Victoria’s voice turned colder.
“Then connect me with Grace Bennett.”
There was a pause.
“Mrs. Bennett retired two years ago.”
“Where is she now?”
“We can’t provide personal information.”
Victoria ended the call.
Her hand was trembling.
She opened the leather folder she had carried into the house. Inside were legal documents concerning an old Caldwell family trust.
A highlighted provision appeared on the third page.
Daniel Caldwell’s first biological child would receive twenty-six percent of Caldwell Meridian Properties upon reaching the age of twenty-one.
If no surviving child could be legally identified by that date, the shares would pass permanently to Daniel’s only sibling.
Victoria.
She stared at the deadline.
Eleven months remained.
From the hallway came the sound of Lily humming softly while she changed the flowers in the library.
Victoria walked to the study window and watched the Hudson moving beneath a gray February sky.
Twenty years earlier, she had paid a frightened nurse to move a newborn from one hospital room to another.
The baby was never supposed to survive.
Grace Bennett had sworn she had done what Victoria demanded.
Yet a young woman with Evelyn’s eyes had just walked into the Caldwell mansion wearing the silver pendant that had disappeared with the child.
Victoria took out another phone—one Daniel did not know existed—and typed a message.
Grace lied. The girl is alive.
A reply appeared less than a minute later.
What do you want done?
Victoria looked through the open doorway as Lily passed the study carrying folded linens.
May you like
Her expression hardened.
First, we make them believe she is a thief.
