Chapter 8 - A Father's Worst FearJulian had slept barely three hours when Nora arrived the following morning.
He pushed Celeste's notebook across the desk.
"Tell me what this means."
Nora read the underlined sentence.
Her expression became serious.
"Where did you find this?"
"Celeste left it behind."
"Have you altered anything?"
"No."
"Keep the original safe. We'll photograph it and document when you found it."
Julian leaned forward.
"Was Warren planning to take Lily away from me?"
Nora closed the notebook.
"We don't know that."
"But it says residential placement."
"That's concerning language. It isn't an order, and Celeste couldn't decide custody arrangements herself."
Julian exhaled shakily.
"Then why write it?"
"Possibly to influence you. Possibly to support expensive services. Possibly because someone wanted a paper trail that made your parenting look inadequate."
He rubbed his forehead.
"She kept saying Lily had behavioral problems."
"And if those claims went unchallenged, they might have influenced decisions about her care."
Julian stood and paced toward the window.
"I could have signed that report."
"But you didn't."
"Because I happened to come home early."
Nora watched him.
Julian stopped beside Claire's photograph.
It showed his late wife sitting at the piano, her hands resting above the keys.
She had been smiling at someone outside the frame.
At him.
Claire had warned him once that Warren didn't always distinguish family loyalty from business loyalty.
Julian had dismissed it as another disagreement about money.
He remembered her exact words.
He thinks protecting the family means keeping control of everything.
He turned toward Nora.
"I need to know what Claire's trust actually says."
She nodded.
"I've requested the governing document and the full accountings."
"Warren already sent me summaries."
"Summaries aren't enough."
Julian sat again.
Nora pointed to the notebook.
"There's something else. Have you ever agreed to residential placement for Lily?"
"Never."
"Has a qualified medical professional recommended it?"
"No."
"Then don't allow that language to become an uncontested description of her needs."
Julian looked upstairs.
Lily was eating breakfast with the caregiver.
She'd eaten nearly an entire banana, half a piece of toast, and several strawberries.
Celeste had repeatedly described her as refusing food.
Julian had witnessed something completely different.
He opened his phone and showed Nora a photograph from breakfast.
Lily sat in her high chair, her fingers sticky with fruit.
"She ate."
Nora smiled slightly.
"That's good. Keep ordinary, factual notes. Don't turn every meal into evidence against Celeste. Lily needs a normal childhood, too."
Julian nodded.
That distinction hurt more than he expected.
He had almost started looking at his daughter as a witness.
A person whose crying, eating, and sleeping might help him win an argument.
She deserved better.
Later that afternoon, he sat on the nursery floor with Lily.
He placed three soft blocks in front of her.
She picked up the yellow one.
"Yellow," he said.
"Yeh-yo," she repeated.
He smiled.
Then she heard footsteps in the hallway.
Her body went rigid.
She dropped the block.
Julian watched her face change.
"No, sweetheart. Celeste isn't here."
Lily crawled quickly into his lap.
He held her.
The footsteps belonged to Thomas.
He appeared in the doorway, then stopped when he saw Lily's frightened expression.
"Sorry, sir."
Julian shook his head.
"Come in slowly."
Thomas knelt several feet away.
"Hi, Lily."
She studied him.
Then she pointed at his black tie.
"Tom."
Thomas's eyes filled.
He had never told Julian that Lily called him that.
Julian glanced between them.
"She knows you."
Thomas nodded.
"I used to bring her the little stuffed rabbit when she cried."
Julian looked down at the rabbit in her lap.
The toy he'd assumed Celeste had chosen.
Thomas swallowed.
"Mr. Mercer, there's something I haven't told you."
Julian's expression tightened.
"Tell me now."
Thomas glanced toward Lily.
"One afternoon, I heard Miss Hart say that Mr. Warren wanted the child 'ready' before the family review."
Julian felt the room grow cold.
"Ready for what?"
"I didn't hear the answer."
"Why didn't you mention this?"
Thomas lowered his gaze.
"Because I was afraid of what it meant."
Lily pressed her face against Julian's chest.
Thomas continued.
"But I remember the date."
He removed his notebook.
"It was the same day Edward ordered the nursery camera moved downstairs."
Julian looked at the entry.
Then Thomas pointed to a name written in the margin.
A company representative had visited that afternoon.
The visitor signed in on behalf of Mercer Residential Preservation.
May you like
The company had been billing Lily's trust.
And the visitor's authorization had come directly from Warren.
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