Chapter 13 - The Woman in GreenThe emergency custody hearing lasted seventeen minutes.
Victoria did not attend.
Her attorney claimed she was emotionally unwell after “public harassment.” The judge did not appear moved.
Elaine presented the recording, the device, staff statements, Dr. Mallory’s payments, the gala footage, and Jason’s initial cooperation.
The judge granted Arthur temporary sole custody and ordered Victoria to have no contact with Lily.
No calls.
No visits.
No gifts.
No messages through third parties.
Arthur should have felt relief.
Instead, he felt the exhaustion of a man who had won one room while the building still burned.
When he returned home, Lily was waiting by the stairs in a yellow dress.
“Did the judge say I stay?”
Arthur knelt.
“Yes.”
“With you?”
“Always.”
“Victoria can’t come?”
“No.”
Lily exhaled like she had been holding her breath for weeks.
Then she asked, “Can Mommy’s room be happy now?”
Arthur looked toward the east wing.
“Yes,” he said. “We’ll make it happy.”
They began the next day.
Not with decorators.
With boxes.
Arthur and Lily sat on the floor of Eleanor’s room while sunlight poured through the windows. Maria wrapped broken objects. Daniel supervised security upgrades nearby, pretending not to cry when Lily found one of Eleanor’s old scarves and tied it around her rabbit.
Arthur repaired what he could.
Some things could not be repaired.
The torn sketch of Lily was one of them.
Lily touched the damaged paper carefully.
“Can we tape it?”
“We can try.”
“But the line will still be there.”
Arthur nodded.
“Yes.”
Lily looked up at him.
“That’s okay. It can still be pretty.”
Arthur had to turn away.
They turned Eleanor’s sitting room into a memory room. Not a shrine. Not a locked chamber filled with pain.
A living place.
Eleanor’s books returned to the shelves. Lily’s drawings filled one wall. The old speaker played music again. Arthur placed fresh wildflowers on the desk because Eleanor had loved messy arrangements that looked stolen from a field.
For one afternoon, the house breathed.
Then the package arrived.
No return address.
Security intercepted it at the gate and brought it to Daniel. He x-rayed it, opened it outside, and carried the contents to Arthur with a face like thunder.
Inside was a child’s green dress.
The same shade as Victoria’s gala gown.
Pinned to it was a note.
She’ll look beautiful in this when she finally learns gratitude.
Arthur read the note once.
Then he folded it and handed it to Elaine, who had been working from the study.
Lily never saw it.
But that night, she woke screaming.
Arthur ran to her room.
She was standing on the bed, pointing at the window.
“The green lady!”
Arthur crossed the room and pulled back the curtain.
No one.
Security lights illuminated the garden. Guards moved near the gate. Cameras swept the property.
Still, Lily shook violently.
“She was there.”
Arthur held her.
“Victoria cannot come here.”
“Not Victoria,” Lily whispered.
Arthur went cold.
“What do you mean?”
Lily pointed toward the darkness.
“The other one.”
Arthur called Daniel.
Within minutes, security reviewed exterior footage.
At 2:16 a.m., a figure appeared beyond the garden wall.
Female.
Tall.
Wearing dark green.
Not Victoria.
Celeste.
Arthur stared at the monitor.
“She came to the house.”
Daniel nodded.
“Stayed beyond the property line. Technically public road near the overlook.”
“She was watching my daughter’s window.”
“Yes.”
Arthur’s voice lowered.
“File it.”
“Already done.”
But Celeste was smarter than Victoria.
She had not crossed the gate.
She had not touched the property.
She had not directly violated any order.
She had simply reminded a child that fear could still find windows.
Arthur ordered blackout curtains installed before sunrise.
He hated that.
He hated that Lily’s world had to become smaller because monstrous people knew how to stay one inch inside the law.
Two days later, Celeste appeared on television.
Not as a suspect.
As a mother.
She sat in a soft-lit studio wearing pearls and grief.
“My daughter has been vilified,” she said. “Arthur Hale is a powerful man with powerful resources. We are deeply concerned for everyone involved, especially little Lily.”
The interviewer leaned in.
“Are you suggesting Mr. Hale is using his influence?”
Celeste lowered her eyes.
“I am suggesting the public should not convict a woman for trying to help a troubled child.”
Arthur watched from the study with Elaine.
Daniel muted the television before Arthur could throw the remote.
Elaine said, “She’s shifting sympathy.”
Arthur nodded.
“She’s better than Victoria.”
“Yes.”
“How do we beat her?”
Elaine looked at the paused image of Celeste Whitmore’s sorrowful face.
“We don’t beat her in public.”
Arthur turned.
May you like
Elaine’s expression hardened.
“We follow the money.”
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