Chapter 12: The Empty Frame
Two days later, David and Lily stood back inside the living room of the city house. The federal seals had been temporarily lifted so David could retrieve their personal belongings before the property was seized by the bank as part of the asset forfeiture.
The house felt entirely different in the daylight. Without the expensive, sterile decorations and Rachel’s suffocating presence, it just looked like a building—cold, hollow, and empty.
Lily walked slowly into the center of the living room, her white sneakers squeaking softly against the hardwood floor. She stopped right where the family portrait had once hung on the white bookshelf.
The silver frame was still there, but it was empty. Arthur had taken the photograph with him, leaving behind only a faint rectangle of cleaner dust where the glass had blocked the sunlight over the years.
"Where did the picture go, Daddy?" Lily asked, her voice echoing in the large, unfurnished room.
"It went away with the past, sweetheart," David said, walking over to join her. He picked up a cardboard packing box filled with their clothes and books. "We don't need it anymore. We're going to make our own pictures from now on."
Lily smiled, reaching out to touch the empty silver frame before letting her hand drop back to her side. "Can we paint our new room yellow?"
"We can paint it whatever color you want," David laughed, a genuine, unburdened sound that hadn't echoed in these walls in a decade.
They loaded the last of their boxes into the trunk of David’s sedan parked outside on the driveway. As David locked the front door of the house for the very last time, a sleek black town car pulled up to the curb behind them.
The rear window rolled down, revealing Evelyn sitting inside in a dark wool coat. Her hair was neat, her face pale, but her sharp eyes were softer than David had ever seen them.
"David," Evelyn called out softly through the glass.
David stopped, turning to face her while keeping Lily safely behind him. "If you're here to talk about the estate, you're too late, Evelyn. The federal agents took everything."
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"I'm not here for the estate," Evelyn replied, her voice trembling slightly. She held a small, wrapped package out the window. "This was mailed to my downtown office yesterday morning. It was addressed to Lily from an old friend of her biological mother."
David’s breath caught in his throat. He looked at the package, then back at Evelyn’s fragile, weathered hands.
