Chapter 2 - The Blue Room
Marcello took Lily’s hand.
Elena followed.
Vanessa followed faster.
Behind them, the charity gala tried to restart itself.
Two hundred guests watched the DeLuca family climb the staircase in silence.
At the second-floor gallery, Lily stopped in front of a dark walnut door.
“Here.”
“This is ridiculous.”
Marcello tested the handle.
“Key.”
“I don’t have it.”
“You’ve had Luca’s key ring since the funeral.”
“I said I don’t have it.”
Lily reached behind a tall ceramic planter.
Something metal clinked against the floor.
Vanessa’s face changed.
Elena stared at her daughter.
“Lily, where did you get that?”
“It fell too.”
The blue room smelled like dust and expensive perfume.
Someone had been using it.
A garment bag hung from a wardrobe.
Makeup covered the vanity.
A half-empty glass of water sat beside a stack of paper towels.
Then Lily walked toward a velvet bench.
“There.”
A beige silicone prosthetic lay half-hidden beneath the bench.
Shaped like a late-term pregnant abdomen.
Vanessa stood in the doorway.
“That’s not mine.”
“Yes, it is.”
Vanessa snapped:
“Stop saying that.”
Marcello stepped between them.
“Don’t raise your voice at my daughter.”
Vanessa’s breathing changed.
She reached toward the bench.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were just in this room.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Elena pointed toward the vanity.
Vanessa’s jeweled clutch sat beside the mirror.
Same one she had carried into the ballroom.
“I can explain.”
Lily lifted her rabbit.
“She took the belly off because it was hot.”
Elena’s eyes moved to Vanessa’s stomach.
Still apparently pregnant.
Marcello noticed too.
If the prosthetic was on the floor—
what was Vanessa wearing now?
May you like
Vanessa took one step backward.
And Marcello heard a zipper close beneath her gown.
