Chapter 3 - The Rules of Mrs. Vale
I stared at the photograph.
My mother was twenty-three in it.
Younger than I was now.
She stood outside Luigi's Diner wearing a pink waitress uniform almost identical to mine.
Beside her was another woman.
Beautiful.
Dark-haired.
Smiling.
I knew that woman from newspaper photographs.
Adrian's mother.
I stepped into the study.
"Why do you have this?"
Sarah stood beside the desk.
Neither of them answered.
"Wrong choice."
I pointed at the photograph.
"Try again."
Adrian closed the door.
"My mother knew yours."
"I can see that."
"Rose—"
"How well?"
He glanced at Sarah.
That made me angrier.
"Stop looking at her."
Sarah exhaled.
"I didn't know about the photograph until tonight."
"But you knew something."
"Yes."
"How much?"
She hesitated.
I laughed without humor.
"My husband and my lawyer are keeping secrets from me less than twenty-four hours after my wedding. Fantastic."
Adrian's jaw tightened at husband.
"I was going to tell you."
"When?"
"When I knew enough to tell you safely."
"That's not your decision."
"No," he said. "It isn't."
That surprised me.
Then he pushed the photograph toward me.
"Your mother, Caroline Carter, worked at Luigi's with my mother, Elena Vale."
I picked it up.
Mom looked happy.
Really happy.
I had so few photographs of her from before Lily was born.
"They were friends?"
"Close friends."
"Why didn't Luigi tell me?"
"He may not know the rest."
"What rest?"
Adrian opened a drawer.
Removed a brown envelope.
Inside were photocopies.
Bank transfers.
Trust documents.
A handwritten letter.
I recognized Mom's handwriting.
I couldn't breathe.
"Where did you get this?"
"My mother left it."
"Your mother died seventeen years ago."
"Yes."
"Then why are you giving it to me now?"
"Because until last night, I didn't know you were Caroline's daughter."
I looked at the diner photograph.
Our mothers.
Together.
"Luigi knew."
"He knew our mothers worked together. He didn't know what happened afterward."
Sarah stepped closer.
"Rose, your grandfather's trust isn't the real reason Beatrice wants Lily."
"What does that mean?"
"Your grandfather didn't create the money."
I stared at her.
"Then who did?"
Adrian answered.
"Your mother."
The room tilted.
"My mother died broke."
"No."
"We couldn't pay her hospital bill."
"Because the money was hidden."
"How much?"
Adrian's silence terrified me.
"How much?"
"Potentially several million."
I sat down.
That was impossible.
Mom had clipped grocery coupons.
She had patched my winter coat twice.
We had moved apartments because rent increased thirty dollars.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
"Where would she get millions?"
"That," Adrian said, "is what my mother was trying to protect."
He showed me the letter.
The first line was addressed to Elena.
If anything happens to me, protect Rose.
My hands shook.
Mom had written my name.
Not Lily.
Me.
The letter continued.
I have proof of what Beatrice and Martin did. The account belongs to the girls. If I cannot finish this, make sure my daughters never sign anything Beatrice gives them.
Martin.
My mother's older brother.
Dead eight years.
Beatrice's husband.
My uncle.
I looked at Sarah.
"What did they do?"
"We don't know everything."
"Stop saying that."
"We know enough to believe your mother discovered money being diverted from a family business your grandfather founded."
"My grandfather ran a hardware store."
"On paper," Adrian said.
He handed me another document.
Carter Industrial Holdings.
I had never heard the name.
It owned land.
Warehouses.
Old manufacturing properties.
Several had been sold during Chicago's redevelopment boom.
My grandfather had apparently trusted Martin to manage the sales.
Money disappeared.
Mom found out.
Then she died.
My throat closed.
"No."
Adrian watched me.
"What?"
"Don't turn my mother's death into one of your mysteries."
"I didn't."
"She died after Lily was born."
"I know."
"Complications."
"I know."
"You think Beatrice killed her?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you're thinking it."
His silence answered.
I stood.
"We're leaving."
"Rose."
"Lily and I are leaving."
"Where?"
"Home."
"You received a threat last night."
"I managed twenty-nine years without you."
"Yesterday someone photographed Lily."
"I know."
"And whoever did it knows about this marriage."
"I know."
"Then don't pretend your apartment is safe because it's familiar."
I hated him for being right.
So I stayed.
But I made rules.
At breakfast, I wrote them on Lily's school notebook.
Adrian read them.
Rule one: nobody follows Lily without her knowing.
Rule two: no armed men inside spaces Lily uses.
Rule three: I work if I choose.
Rule four: no secrets about anything involving my family.
Adrian pointed at four.
"That's broad."
"Good."
Rule five: neither of us makes decisions for the other.
Rule six: Lily gets a normal childhood.
He looked around his enormous dining room.
"Define normal."
Lily poured syrup onto pancakes.
"I vote for a pony."
"No pony," I said.
Adrian said, "We'll discuss it."
I pointed my fork at him.
"Do not undermine me."
Lily whispered, "I like marriage."
I almost choked.
The next week became the strangest of my life.
I returned to Luigi's.
Adrian didn't argue.
He did, however, sit in a booth for three nights in a row.
"You don't need to supervise me."
"I'm eating."
"You ordered coffee."
"Coffee is something."
"You've had one cup in two hours."
"I drink slowly."
Marcy was delighted.
Half the neighborhood came in pretending not to stare.
Stories spread.
The waitress who married Adrian Vale overnight.
Some thought I was a gold digger.
Some thought I had lost my mind.
One woman asked whether he had a brother.
I told her no even though I had no idea.
At home, Adrian and Lily formed an alliance.
It began with chess.
Adrian found her staring at a board in the library.
"You play?"
"No."
"Want to learn?"
"Will Rose think it's educational?"
"Probably."
"Then yes."
Within three days, Lily was beating one of Adrian's employees.
Within five, she accused Adrian of letting her win.
He looked offended.
"I have never intentionally lost anything."
"Then you're bad at chess."
I laughed so hard I spilled tea.
Adrian stared at me.
Not angrily.
Just stared.
I became suddenly aware that I had never laughed around him before.
Something shifted.
I looked away.
The marriage was supposed to be paperwork.
It became breakfast.
Homework.
Adrian silently leaving an umbrella beside the door when I forgot mine.
Me discovering he hated mushrooms.
Lily falling asleep on his shoulder during a movie and Adrian remaining absolutely still for forty minutes because he didn't want to wake her.
Those were dangerous things.
Not the rumors.
Not the expensive cars.
Kindness was dangerous.
Kindness made temporary arrangements harder to leave.
Ten days after the wedding, Sarah came over.
She carried new documents.
"We found the original trust amendment."
I read it twice.
When Lily turned eighteen, she would inherit half.
The other half belonged to me.
Beatrice had no legal claim unless she became Lily's guardian and challenged my portion as improperly administered.
"That's why she wants her."
"Partly."
I looked at Sarah.
"Partly?"
"There is another clause."
She turned the page.
The trust contained a sealed exhibit.
It could only be opened by Caroline Carter's surviving adult daughter in the presence of the younger beneficiary's legal guardian.
"That's me twice."
Sarah nodded.
"Which means you can open it."
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
Adrian entered.
He had been on the phone.
One look at his face made me stand.
"What?"
He put the phone down.
"Beatrice disappeared."
Sarah frowned.
"What do you mean disappeared?"
"Her house is empty."
"Maybe she left."
"She didn't pack."
A man appeared at the study door.
He handed Adrian a small package.
"No return address."
It was addressed to me.
I opened it.
Inside was Lily's red hair ribbon.
The one she had worn to school that morning.
My blood turned cold.
I ran upstairs.
"Lily!"
No answer.
Her bedroom was empty.
Her school bag lay on the bed.
The window was open.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
"Open the trust tomorrow, Rose, and you'll never see your sister again."
May you like
Behind me, Adrian went completely still.
Then Lily's bedroom closet door moved from the inside.
