True Heiress Never Lies! novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Visiting Day

Staged in a clean room, Sonia slips a folded note to her little brother.

They told me at six months that I had visitors.

It was Saturday, the twentieth of April, and the dormitory had been cleaned all night.

A girl who had never owned a toothbrush was handed one.

The windows were wiped, and a vase of plastic tulips appeared in the dayroom.

"They're coming to look," my bunkmate said. "Wear what they give you."

What they gave me was a pink sweater with the tag still on.

It was soft and smelled like a department store.

I put my arms through the sleeves and felt the sting on my ribs where the night officer had kicked me the week before.

Under the sweater, the bruises were the color of old plums.

The director found me in the hall.

"This is a family day," she said. "A happy day."

"I want to tell my father."

"You want to tell him what, exactly?"

"What happens here."

She walked me into a small bright room with a round table, a bowl of fruit and a pitcher of lemonade.

There was a window with real light coming through it.

I had not seen sunlight on a wall in six months.

"Here's how this works," she said. "You sit here and smile.

"If you say one wrong word in front of your father, I'll know, and so will the night officer."

"You can't."

"I can do whatever I like. Your stepmother has been very generous."

I looked at her.

I had no idea what she meant, and I filed it away.

Footsteps came down the hall.

Then the door opened, and my little brother ran in.

He was taller than I remembered.

He hit me so hard I almost fell, and he put his face in my sweater and held on.

"Sonia," he said. "Sonia, Sonia."

"Hi, Peter."

I held him with both arms and tried not to wince.

My father stood in the doorway.

He had lost weight.

He wore a good coat, and he held a bag from a bakery.

"Hi, kiddo," he said.

His voice cracked on it.

"Hi, Dad."

Behind him came Estelle, in cream wool, with a pretty scarf.

She kissed my cheek.

"You look wonderful," she said. "Doesn't she look wonderful, Gordon?"

"You look healthy," my father said.

He sat across from me and put the bag on the table.

"Brought you the cinnamon rolls you like."

"Thanks."

"They treating you okay?"

I looked at the director.

She stood against the wall with her hands folded and a pleasant face.

I looked at Estelle, who was smiling at me over the lemonade.

"Dad," I said. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"I need you to ask me about the necklace."

His smile slid sideways.

"Sonia, we've talked about this."

"We haven't. You never asked."

"The case is closed, honey. It's over. You just have to get through this and come home."

"Gordon," Estelle said gently. "Not now. She's having a good day."

He looked from me to her.

And I watched him pick the easy road.

I had seen him do it all my life, at parties, at the office, at my mother's funeral when the minister said her name wrong.

"Okay," he said. "Okay. Later."

I lowered my eyes to the table.

Peter was sitting on my lap.

He was seven and a half, and he had a lost tooth and a new scab on his knee.

He was staring at the director with narrowed eyes.

"Why does everyone here look scared?" he whispered into my neck.

"Shh."

"Is it a bad place?"

I put my mouth against his ear.

"Peter, listen. I'm going to put something in your hand. Don't open it. Don't show anyone. Put it in your shoe."

"Okay."

"Don't give it to Estelle. Only Dad."

"Okay."

Under the tablecloth, I slid the paper out of my waistband.

I had torn it from the back of a hymnal the night before.

On it, in pencil, I had written everything I could fit.

DAD. THEY HIT ME. THE DIRECTOR TAKES MY LETTERS. I DID NOT TAKE THE NECKLACE. ASK ME. SONIA.

It was folded small and hard.

Peter took it in his fist.

He pressed his hand against his stomach and slid down off my lap.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he said loudly.

"I'll take him," my father said.

"No!" I said, too fast. "I mean, let me. Let me walk him."

Estelle looked at me.

Then she looked at Peter, and at the way he was holding his right hand.

Her smile didn't change at all.

"Peter, honey," she said. "What's in your hand?"

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend