Chapter 2 - THE YELLOW ROOM
“How long has your daughter been coming to work with you?”
Maria looked confused by the question.
“Only recently.”
“How recently?”
“About three months.”
Nathaniel slowly rose from Elizabeth’s chair.
“Was Lily ever here before that?”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
Maria nodded.
“She has never been inside this house before I started working here.”
Nathaniel looked toward the old music box.
Then toward the ring in his hand.
“Then how did she know about the yellow room?”
Maria had no answer.
Lily was still watching him.
Three years old.
Small enough that her feet barely touched the floor when Maria held her.
Yet there was something about the child's expression that made Nathaniel uncomfortable.
She wasn't frightened.
She wasn't confused.
She looked almost certain that he already knew the answer.
Nathaniel crouched again.
“Lily.”
The girl looked at him.
“Can you tell me where the yellow room is?”
She nodded.
“Upstairs.”
Maria immediately shook her head.
“No, sweetheart.”
Lily frowned.
“But she showed me.”
Nathaniel's heart began beating harder.
“Who showed you?”
“The pretty lady.”
Maria closed her eyes.
Nathaniel stood.
“Take me upstairs.”
Maria stared at him.
“Mr. Cole, I don't think—”
“Please.”
Something in his voice stopped her.
It wasn't an order.
It was desperation.
Maria took Lily's hand.
They walked toward the staircase.
Nathaniel followed.
The second floor had remained closed for five years.
He had told everyone in the house never to enter.
The cleaners worked only on the first floor.
The windows were kept shut.
The bedrooms remained untouched.
It had become a museum of everything he had lost.
As they reached the landing, Lily suddenly stopped.
She pointed down the hallway.
“There.”
Nathaniel followed her finger.
At the end of the corridor stood a white door.
Behind it was Grace's old nursery.
The room he had not entered since the funeral.
Maria looked at him.
“Is that it?”
Nathaniel nodded.
“The yellow room.”
His hand trembled as he reached for the handle.
It was locked.
He hadn't given anyone a key.
Not even himself.
He had simply stopped opening it.
Lily pulled against Maria's hand.
“She doesn't like the door closed.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
“What?”
“She says Daddy keeps it closed because he's sad.”
His chest tightened.
Elizabeth had called him Daddy.
Grace had too.
No one else had.
He unlocked the door.
The smell hit him first.
Old paint.
Dust.
Lavender.
The faint scent of the perfume Elizabeth used to wear.
Maria stayed near the doorway.
Lily stepped inside.
Nathaniel couldn't move.
Everything was exactly as he remembered.
The yellow walls.
The white crib.
The small bookshelf.
Grace's stuffed rabbit sitting beside the window.
Even the paper stars Elizabeth had glued to the ceiling.
Nathaniel covered his mouth.
He had not realized how much he had forgotten.
Lily walked toward the bookshelf.
She reached behind it.
Then pulled out a small wooden horse.
Nathaniel stared.
“That belonged to Grace.”
Lily turned around.
“She said you should have it.”
Nathaniel took the horse.
His fingers shook.
A tiny crack ran along one side.
Grace had broken it when she was four.
She had cried for an hour.
Elizabeth had told Nathaniel it could be repaired.
He had promised to fix it.
He never had.
Nathaniel sank onto the floor.
Maria watched him.
“Mr. Cole?”
He didn't answer.
He turned the wooden horse over.
Something was written underneath.
Not in Grace's handwriting.
Elizabeth's.
Some promises are easier to keep when nobody knows about them.
Nathaniel stared at the sentence.
“What does that mean?”
Maria stepped closer.
“I don't know.”
Lily pointed toward the closet.
“There.”
Nathaniel looked.
“What?”
“She put something there.”
He opened the closet.
Grace's old dresses hung inside.
A tiny red coat.
A yellow sweater.
A pair of white shoes.
At the bottom sat a cardboard box.
Nathaniel pulled it out.
Inside were old photographs.
Most showed Elizabeth and Grace.
Then he found one that made his blood run cold.
Elizabeth was standing outside the Cole estate.
She was holding Grace's hand.
Beside her stood Maria.
Maria froze.
“That isn't possible.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
“You know this photograph?”
Maria stared at it.
“I've never seen it.”
But she had.
Nathaniel could see it in her face.
“You're lying.”
Maria stepped backward.
“No.”
“You're in the photograph.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
Maria's eyes filled with tears.
“I met Mrs. Cole once.”
“When?”
“Before the accident.”
Nathaniel stood.
“Why?”
Maria looked at Lily.
Then back at him.
“Because she asked me to help her.”
Nathaniel felt the room tilt.
“Help her with what?”
Maria shook her head.
“I promised I wouldn't tell.”
“She is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you still keeping her secret?”
Maria wiped her eyes.
“Because she made me promise to protect Lily.”
Nathaniel stared at the child.
“What does Lily have to do with Elizabeth?”
Maria's lips trembled.
“Nothing.”
The answer came too quickly.
Nathaniel noticed.
“You're afraid.”
Maria didn't deny it.
Lily suddenly spoke.
“Mommy says don't tell the sad man.”
Maria closed her eyes.
Nathaniel slowly turned toward her.
“Who is Mommy?”
Maria looked horrified.
“Lily.”
The little girl seemed confused.
“She said not to tell.”
Nathaniel crouched.
“Lily, what does she look like?”
The child pointed toward the photograph.
“That lady.”
Nathaniel stared at Elizabeth's face.
Then at Lily.
A three-year-old child had just identified his dead wife as someone who had spoken to her.
But there was something else.
The photograph had been taken before the accident.
And Maria had been there.
Nathaniel turned the photograph over.
A date was written on the back.
Three weeks before Elizabeth died.
Underneath it were four words.
Meet me after midnight.
Nathaniel looked at Maria.
“Where?”
Maria shook her head.
“I can't.”
“You already know.”
“I promised.”
“To Elizabeth?”
Maria nodded.
Nathaniel took a step toward her.
“What happened that night?”
Maria began crying.
“She came to my apartment.”
“Why?”
“She said someone was following her.”
Nathaniel froze.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You saw them?”
“No.”
“Then what did she ask you to do?”
Maria looked at Lily.
“She asked me to take care of something if she didn't come back.”
“What?”
Maria reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a small brass key.
Nathaniel stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“Elizabeth gave it to me.”
His heart pounded.
“What does it open?”
Maria looked toward the hallway.
“I don't know.”
Nathaniel reached for it.
Maria pulled her hand away.
“She told me not to give it to you until you remembered something.”
“What?”
Maria's voice became barely audible.
“She said you would know when the time came.”
Nathaniel stared at the key.
Then Lily spoke.
“She said Daddy forgot the phone.”
Nathaniel went completely still.
“What phone?”
Lily pointed toward the desk.
“The one that rang.”
Nathaniel looked at Elizabeth's old writing desk.
He hadn't opened the bottom drawer in five years.
His hands trembled as he unlocked it.
Inside was an old leather case.
He opened it.
A phone lay inside.
Ancient.
Dead.
But beside it was a charger.
Nathaniel stared at Maria.
“Why was this here?”
Maria whispered,
“Because Elizabeth told me you would eventually find it.”
Nathaniel plugged the phone into the charger.
The screen remained black.
Then—
A single notification appeared.
ONE MISSED CALL — ELIZABETH COLE
Dated five years earlier.
The night she died.
Nathaniel stopped breathing.
May you like
And beneath the missed call was a second message.
VOICE MESSAGE SAVED.
