Chapter 9 - WHAT LILY SAW
Grant lifted both hands.
“Renata, listen to me.”
“I am listening.”
“I listened for years while Claire complained about you.”
“I listened while she treated me like a criminal.”
“She discovered the money,” Grant said.
“She discovered what you were stealing.”
Renata’s expression twisted.
“That money should have been mine.”
“I built your charity network.”
“I introduced you to every politician and donor who mattered.”
“Claire smiled for photographs and received the credit.”
Lily began shaking.
I moved slowly toward the right.
Renata noticed.
“Stop.”
I froze.
“Emma,” Lily whispered.
Renata grabbed her harder.
“Be quiet.”
Something changed in the child’s face.
Fear was still there.
But beneath it was anger.
Two years of silence had trapped it inside her.
Now it broke free.
“You pushed Mommy.”
The words cut through the rain.
Grant staggered as if struck.
Renata stared down at Lily.
“You remember?”
“I saw you.”
Lily’s voice grew louder.
“You followed us.”
“You hit Mommy’s car.”
“You made us fall.”
Grant’s eyes filled with horror.
Renata shook her head.
“She was confused.”
“She was five.”
“She remembers a nightmare.”
“You climbed down,” Lily said.
“You opened Mommy’s door.”
“You took her phone.”
“You left us there.”
Renata’s control shattered.
“She was still alive when I reached the car,” she screamed.
Grant stopped breathing.
Detective Ellis’s hand moved slowly toward her holster.
Renata continued without realizing she had confessed.
“She begged me to help Lily.”
“She did not even beg for herself.”
“She looked at me like I was nothing.”
“I wanted her to know what it felt like to lose.”
Grant’s face collapsed.
“You left my wife to die.”
“She was already dying.”
“You could have called for help.”
“I could not let her expose me.”
The gun trembled in Renata’s hand.
Lily suddenly bit her wrist.
Renata screamed.
The gun fired.
The shot exploded across the mountain.
Grant lunged forward.
Detective Ellis drew her weapon.
I ran toward Lily.
Renata lost her grip on the child.
Lily slipped in the mud.
Her body slid toward the cliff.
I threw myself down and caught her wrist.
Half my body went over the edge.
Lily dangled above the ravine.
Her fingers began slipping from mine.
“Emma,” she cried.
“I’ve got you.”
May you like
It was the same promise I had made in the bathroom.
This time, failure meant death.
