Vanessa noticed her and, with a smile that never reached her eyes, ordered the housekeeper, Mrs. Evelyn, to take the girl upstairs. Riley whispered that she wanted to stay with her father. Mrs. Evelyn gently led her away, hiding a bruise on the child’s wrist beneath a small cat bandage.
When the party finally ended and the luxury cars rolled away, Michael noticed Riley was not in bed. He found her hiding under the dining table, scared because she had spilled water on Vanessa’s dress. He stroked her hair and told her it was only a dress, nothing worth fear.
But he did not notice the way she flinched from his touch. That night, Vanessa accused him in their bedroom of spoiling the girl and letting her embarrass them in public.
Michael answered coldly that Riley was his daughter. Vanessa left in a fury, and on the other side of the wall Riley lay awake, hugging her bear and whispering the lullaby her mother once sang, her pillow wet with tears.