Chapter 2 - The Blue Room
Julian dismissed everyone from the hospital corridor.
Even his guards.
He kept only Marco Santoro, his oldest security chief, outside the door.
Nora watched him carefully.
“You know something,” Julian said.
Nora lowered her eyes.
“I know what my daughter heard.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“I cannot lose my job.”
Julian stared at her.
“Your job is the least important thing in this building.”
Nora looked toward Lily.
“She has nightmares sometimes.”
“How often?”
“Since she was little.”
“What does she dream about?”
Nora hesitated.
“A woman singing.”
Julian felt his heartbeat change.
“What woman?”
“I never saw her.”
“But Lily did?”
Nora nodded.
“She says the woman has blue shoes.”
Julian stepped backward.
Claire had owned blue dancing slippers.
He remembered them because she had hated them.
She said they made her feet look enormous.
He had teased her for weeks.
“Where did Lily learn that?”
Nora’s eyes filled with fear.
“From a recording.”
“What recording?”
“One my sister left me.”
Julian stopped.
“Your sister?”
Nora said nothing.
He already knew.
“Claire Arden.”
Nora closed her eyes.
The hallway suddenly seemed colder.
“You knew her.”
“I grew up with her.”
Julian’s voice dropped.
“Why did you never tell me?”
“Because people who knew Claire learned quickly that talking about her could become dangerous.”
“Did she die?”
Nora looked directly at him.
“I never said that.”
Julian felt anger rising.
“Did you know she was pregnant?”
Nora’s face changed.
That was answer enough.
“What did you say?”
Nora swallowed.
“Claire had a daughter.”
Julian stared at Lily.
Four years old.
The bluebird turn.
The blue shoes.
The nightmares.
His hands tightened into fists.
“Where is this daughter?”
Nora’s voice cracked.
“You are looking at her.”
The world seemed to tilt.
Julian looked at Lily again.
The little girl slept peacefully, one hand wrapped around her rabbit’s ear.
“You are saying…”
“I am saying Claire was Lily’s mother.”
Julian could barely speak.
“Then who am I?”
Nora’s expression softened.
“The man Claire loved.”
Silence.
Julian had spent four years searching for Claire.
Hospitals.
Airports.
Private investigators.
Morgues.
Border records.
Empty apartments.
Fake passports.
Every lead had ended in nothing.
And all this time, a little girl carrying Claire’s blood had been living under his roof.
He looked at Nora.
“Where is Claire?”
Nora whispered the answer.
May you like
“I don't know.”
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