Chapter 3 - The Woman Behind the GlassI had spent seven years imagining what it would feel like to stand beside Felix again.
I had imagined anger.
Regret.
Maybe closure.
I had never imagined him accusing his own mother of trying to hurt our daughter.
"You're wrong," I whispered.
"I hope I am."
"Odette wouldn't do this."
Felix stared at me.
"You don't know her anymore."
"I knew her."
"You knew the woman she pretended to be."
I stepped back.
"Then explain."
Felix looked around the hospital corridor.
"Not here."
"Now."
He rubbed his face.
"My mother used to say that anything threatening the Kingsley name had to be removed."
My stomach tightened.
"Removed?"
"Carefully."
"You think she would hurt Lily to stop me?"
"No."
He looked directly at me.
"I think she would hurt Lily to stop me."
That distinction terrified me more.
The ICU doors opened.
A nurse approached.
"Mr. Kingsley?"
Felix turned.
"Yes?"
"The child is awake."
I rushed inside.
Lily opened her eyes when she saw me.
"Mommy."
I kissed her forehead.
"I'm right here."
She looked past me.
Her eyes widened.
"Who's that?"
I turned.
Felix stood in the doorway.
He had never met her.
Not really.
Not in the way a father should.
"That's Felix."
Lily stared at him.
Then whispered:
"Is he the man in the picture?"
I froze.
Felix looked at me.
"What picture?"
I didn't answer.
Lily reached toward the bedside table.
The nurse gave her the small pink backpack recovered from school.
Lily pulled out a folded photograph.
I knew it immediately.
It was one of the last photographs of Felix and me before everything collapsed.
He was holding my hand.
I was laughing.
We were standing outside the original Marlowe House.
Seven years ago.
Felix looked at the photograph.
"Where did she get this?"
"I don't know."
Lily touched the image.
"The lady gave it to me."
"What lady?"
My voice sharpened.
"Which lady?"
"She had shiny shoes."
Felix crouched beside the bed.
"What did she say?"
Lily looked at me.
"She said Mommy used to be important."
My throat went dry.
"What else?"
"She said Daddy would come back."
Felix's face changed.
"Daddy?"
Lily nodded.
"She said he was waiting."
He looked at me.
"Sarah..."
A nurse interrupted.
"Ms. Marlowe?"
She held up a plastic evidence bag.
"We found this in Lily's backpack too."
Inside was a brass key.
I stared at it.
On the key was a tiny engraved symbol.
A black crown.
Felix went still.
"You know it."
He didn't answer.
"Felix."
He took a breath.
"That symbol belongs to Kingsley private archives."
My pulse jumped.
"What does a six-year-old have to do with your archives?"
"Nothing."
He looked terrified.
"Unless someone wanted me to think she did."
"What does that mean?"
"It means this isn't about the merger."
He looked at the key.
"It's about something my mother buried years ago."
Before I could ask more, Felix's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Private number.
He answered.
"Felix Kingsley."
A distorted voice spoke.
"Your mother says hello."
Felix's face hardened.
"What do you want?"
"Not what."
A pause.
"Who."
"Who?"
"The woman you abandoned."
Felix looked at me.
"And the child you never knew existed."
My stomach turned.
The voice continued.
"Bring Sarah to the old Marlowe House tonight."
"Why?"
"Because she deserves to see what was taken from her."
The call ended.
Felix stared at me.
I whispered:
"What did they mean by the child you never knew existed?"
He didn't answer.
Then his phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared.
Felix opened it.
His face drained of color.
I grabbed the phone.
The photograph showed a woman I had never seen.
Holding a baby.
Behind her was the original Marlowe House.
May you like
And on the back, written in black ink:
HE ISN'T THE ONLY KID SHE HAD.
