The Girl at Her Father's Party
Chapter 2 - The Woman Adrian Never Forgave
Lily ate slowly at first.
Then hunger won.
Adrian watched her finish the cake, bread, and half a bowl of soup before asking another question.
"How old are you?"
"Six."
Adrian's fingers tightened around his glass.
Claire disappeared almost seven years ago.
He did not allow himself to calculate anything yet.
"Is your mother sick?"
Lily nodded.
"She coughs a lot."
"Where are you staying?"
"Sometimes at Mrs. Green's. Sometimes in the car."
Adrian went still.
Claire had once lived in this mansion.
She had worn designer dresses.
Worked beside him at the Vale Foundation.
She had known bank accounts containing more money than most people saw in a lifetime.
And now her daughter was sleeping in a car.
None of it fit the woman he believed Claire had become.
Vanessa approached.
"This child should be taken to social services."
Lily immediately shrank toward Adrian.
He noticed.
"Why?"
"Because we don't know where she came from."
"We know exactly where she came from."
Vanessa's eyes flicked toward the note.
"Claire."
Adrian looked at her.
Lily did too.
"You know Mommy?"
Vanessa forced a smile.
"Everyone knew your mother."
Something in the way she said it made Lily lower her eyes.
Adrian stood.
"Daniel."
His security chief approached.
"Bring the car."
Vanessa grabbed Adrian's arm.
"You're leaving your own party?"
"Yes."
"For Claire?"
Adrian looked at her hand until she removed it.
"For a woman who sent a hungry child here alone."
Vanessa leaned closer.
"Have you forgotten what she did?"
"No."
His voice hardened.
"That's exactly why I'm going."
Forty minutes later, Lily directed them to an aging apartment building on the edge of the city.
The elevator was broken.
They climbed four floors.
Lily opened the door with a key hanging around her neck.
"Mom?"
No answer.
Adrian entered.
The apartment contained almost nothing.
A mattress.
Two chairs.
Medicine bottles.
A stack of unpaid bills.
Then he saw Claire.
She was lying beside the window under a thin blanket.
Her face was pale and painfully thin.
Adrian stopped.
Seven years of anger rose at once.
Claire opened her eyes.
When she saw him, she smiled weakly.
"You came."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Why did you send her to me?"
Claire looked toward Lily.
"Because I ran out of people I could trust."
"You had seven years."
Her smile vanished.
"So did you."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"You stole from my family."
Claire slowly sat up.
"No."
"Your signature was on the transfers."
"I know."
"You disappeared the same night."
"Because somebody wanted it to look exactly that way."
Adrian stared at her.
Claire reached beneath the mattress.
She pulled out an old flash drive.
"I've spent seven years trying to prove that."
