Chapter 3 - The Gift That Never Reached HerThree days after the incident, Bennett returned to the villa without Lily.
His daughter was staying with his sister, Willa, while he arranged follow-up medical appointments and reviewed the security of the swimming pool.
Doctors had discharged Lily after observation with no evidence of a serious respiratory complication.
Physically, she was recovering.
Emotionally, she remained frightened.
She cried during bath time.
She refused to approach the bathroom when she heard running water.
And whenever Bennett mentioned going home, she said, "No pool."
He had promised not to take her near it.
Now he walked onto the terrace alone.
The sunlight was bright.
The swimming pool was still.
It looked impossible that such a beautiful place could have nearly killed his daughter.
The pool gate was closed.
The outdoor chairs stood exactly where they had stood that afternoon.
Bennett looked toward Thalia's favorite chair.
Something purple caught his attention.
A ribbon.
He crouched.
Beneath the chair, partly hidden by its wooden legs, lay a small gift box.
The paper was wrinkled.
One corner was damp from the splashing water.
Bennett picked it up.
He recognized the ribbon.
Maris had once shown him a picture of Lily proudly helping tie it.
He had been in a meeting and had replied with a thumbs-up emoji.
Now he loosened the knot.
Inside was a sheet of paper folded into quarters.
Three crooked figures stood beneath an enormous yellow sun.
The first had dark hair.
The second was very small.
The third wore a white dress.
Above the drawing, Maris had helped Lily write:
FOR THALIA. LOVE, LILY.
Bennett stared.
His daughter had been carrying a present.
He looked toward the edge of the pool.
Then toward the chair.
Why had Lily been standing so close to the water?
Why had the gift ended up beneath Thalia's seat?
And why had Thalia never mentioned it?
He was still holding the box when she stepped outside.
"Bennett?"
He turned.
Thalia wore a pale blue blouse and fitted trousers.
Her smile faded when she saw what he was holding.
"Where did you find that?"
"Under your chair."
She hesitated.
"Oh."
Bennett lifted the drawing.
"Lily made this for you."
Thalia looked at it.
"That's sweet."
"Did she give it to you?"
"I don't remember."
"Thalia."
She sighed.
"It was a frightening afternoon."
"Did Lily walk up to you with this box?"
Thalia looked toward the pool.
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps?"
"Bennett, I was sitting here when everything happened. I don't remember every second."
He studied her.
For the first time, her answers felt strangely rehearsed.
"You told the detective Maris was watching Lily."
"She was supposed to be."
"That isn't what I asked."
Thalia looked at him.
"What exactly are you accusing me of?"
Bennett hesitated.
He wasn't accusing her.
Not yet.
He was trying to understand something.
And he realized he had never heard Maris's account.
Not once.
After returning from the hospital, he had ordered her removed from the household payroll.
He had instructed the security staff not to allow her onto the property.
He had ignored two calls from her.
And when she tried to send him a message explaining what she saw, he had deleted it unread.
Bennett looked down at Lily's drawing.
"Where was Maris when Lily fell?"
Thalia folded her arms.
"I don't know."
"You said you saw her."
"I said she was responsible for supervising Lily."
"That isn't the same thing."
Thalia's expression hardened.
"Are you seriously questioning me because a housekeeper is trying to save her job?"
Bennett looked toward the house.
For years, he had prided himself on his ability to make quick decisions.
Yet three days earlier, he had struck a woman based on an assumption formed in seconds.
He could still hear the sound of the slap.
He could still see Maris falling.
The memory made him ashamed.
Thalia stepped closer.
"Bennett, you were frightened. Anyone would have reacted."
He looked at her.
"Not everyone would have hit her."
She said nothing.
He carefully folded Lily's drawing and placed it back into the box.
"I need to speak with Maris."
Thalia's face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
"Why?"
"Because she was there."
"She'll lie."
"You don't know that."
Thalia took a step backward.
"After everything I've done for this family, you're going to take her word over mine?"
Bennett did not answer.
He carried the gift box into the house.
Upstairs, his study overlooked the garden.
The room had once belonged to Nora.
After her death, Bennett had removed most of her personal things because seeing them hurt too much.
Thalia had helped reorganize the space.
She had also volunteered to manage the administrative side of Nora's charitable foundation.
Bennett had been grateful.
The Nora Wren Water Safety Fund had been established to improve access to swimming lessons, qualified instructors, and safer public aquatic facilities.
Nora had believed children should never be excluded from learning water safety because their families lacked money.
After her death, Bennett had expanded the fund.
Its investment reserve had grown to nearly twelve million dollars.
The foundation's board approved annual grants to municipal pools and nonprofit programs throughout the region.
Thalia had become program director.
Bennett rarely questioned her recommendations.
He was too busy running his property development company.
And he trusted her.
His phone rang.
It was his foundation's independent board member, Cora Chen.
"Bennett, I'm glad you answered."
He sat down.
"What's wrong?"
"We've received another complaint about Bellhaven."
"What kind of complaint?"
"The public pool renovation."
Bennett frowned.
"Wasn't that completed?"
"That's what the reports say."
"And?"
Cora hesitated.
"I drove past the property this morning."
Bennett looked toward the gift box.
"Go on."
"The pool is still closed. The filtration building is locked, the changing rooms haven't been repaired, and the town says no equipment has been delivered."
Bennett sat upright.
"That can't be right."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you."
He remembered Maris asking for a private meeting.
He remembered Thalia calling her difficult.
And suddenly, the two parts of his life he had kept separate began to collide.
Cora continued.
"Bennett, who signed the completion documents?"
He looked toward the study door.
He already suspected the answer.
May you like
But hearing Cora say it made his stomach turn.
"Thalia did."
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