Chapter 2: The Ghost of Summer Past
The days that followed were a blur of hushed arguments behind closed office doors and the cold, suffocating atmosphere of the Ashford mansion. Richard had moved Lily into the guest suite—a decision that had nearly caused Vanessa to suffer an aneurysm.
Vanessa was a woman of tactical brilliance, and she knew her position was compromised. She didn't attack Lily physically again; instead, she began a campaign of subtle psychological warfare. She left "accidentally" opened documents on the counter, suggesting Lily had forged the photograph. She whispered lies to the household staff about Lily’s "calculating nature."
But Richard was no longer the distracted husband. He had launched his own investigation. He hired a private firm, not to prove Lily was a fraud, but to prove she was everything he had prayed for.
One evening, in the quiet solitude of his study, Richard sat with Lily. The atmosphere was formal, yet the air was thick with the unsaid.
“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” Richard asked, pouring two glasses of water, his hands still trembling slightly.
“I didn’t know who you were,” Lily admitted, her gaze fixed on the mahogany desk. “My mother… she never told me your name. She just called you 'The Dreamer.' She told me to look for the man who saved the birds. She said you once had a kind heart, even if the world tried to harden it.”
Richard closed his eyes, the memory rushing back. A rainy day in a park, twenty years ago. Feeding the sparrows. A promise of a life that never came to be. Vanessa had entered the picture shortly after, her family’s connections essential to the expansion of his firm, and the girl—the woman he loved—had vanished into the ether, or so he was led to believe.
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“She stayed hidden,” Richard whispered. “To keep you safe from my family. If they had known about you, they would have made sure you never saw the light of day.”
“Vanessa knows,” Lily said quietly. “I can see it in her eyes. Every time she looks at me, she’s not looking at a maid. She’s looking at a threat to her empire.”
