Adrian didn’t remember hitting the water.
He remembered only the color blue.
Lily’s dress beneath him.
Her hair drifting around her face.
And the fact that she wasn’t fighting anymore.
No.
He kicked downward.
His hand found her arm.
Then her waist.
He pulled.
By the time they broke the surface, Adrian was shouting her name.
“Lily!”
She coughed.
Once.
Then violently.
“That’s it. Breathe.”
He held her face above the water.
“Look at me. Lily, look at me.”
Her eyes opened.
“Dad?”
“I’m here.”
Two men helped pull them onto the terrace.
Adrian dropped to his knees beside her.
Lily was shaking so badly her teeth clicked.
Someone brought towels.
Someone else called emergency services.
Only then did Adrian look up.
There were at least fifteen people standing around the pool.
Employees.
Guests.
Friends.
People he had invited into his home.
“You were all standing here?”
No one answered.
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Why didn’t anyone pull her out?”
Silence.
Nora opened her mouth.
Vivian spoke first.
“Adrian.”
She stepped forward.
Her voice was soft.
Measured.
“Lily slipped.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What?”
“She was trying to retrieve something from the pool. I think she leaned too far.”
Lily moved beneath the towel.
“She’s in shock,” Vivian continued. “We shouldn’t overwhelm her.”
Lily looked at her.
Then at Adrian.
“She pushed me.”
Vivian went still.
Adrian looked down.
“What did you say?”
“Vivian pushed me.”
“Lily,” Vivian said gently, “you almost drowned. You’re confused.”
“I’m not confused.”
“Sweetheart—”
“Don’t call me that.”
The words came out sharper than Lily intended.
Her breathing started to hitch.
Adrian put a hand on her shoulder.
Vivian sighed.
“You see? She’s frightened. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”
Lily turned to her father.
For a second she looked younger than seventeen.
“Dad.”
“I’m listening.”
“She threw Mom’s necklace into the pool.”
Adrian’s face changed.
Vivian gave a small, almost tired laugh.
“Adrian, really?”
Lily lifted her right hand.
“I got back to the edge.”
Her fingers were red.
The skin across the back of her hand was already darkening.
“She wouldn’t let Nora help me.”
Adrian took Lily’s wrist carefully.
A dirty crescent marked the back of her hand.
Something that looked very much like the edge of a shoe sole.
He looked at Vivian.
Vivian looked back.
For the first time that night, she had no immediate answer.
At the hospital, Lily slept for twenty-three minutes.
Then woke with a gasp.
Adrian was beside her before she could sit up.
“Hey. I’m here.”
She stared at him until she recognized the room.
Then relaxed.
Barely.
The doctor had said Lily was lucky.
She had inhaled water and would need observation, but there was no sign of serious injury.
Lucky.
Adrian hated the word.
Lily looked toward the dark window.
“Did Vivian go home?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
That seemed to help.
She lay back.
Several minutes passed.
Then Lily asked quietly:
“Do you believe me?”
Adrian didn’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
She turned her head.
“That was fast.”
He frowned.
Lily gave him a tired, humorless smile.
“It only took me almost drowning.”
The words landed harder than anything Vivian could have said.
“Lily—”
“I told you before.”
He knew.
“I know.”
“She went through my room.”
“I remember.”
“She threw Mom’s things away.”
“I remember.”
“She told you I was lying.”
Adrian said nothing.
Because he remembered that too.
And worse—
he remembered his own answer.
Give Vivian a chance.
She’s trying.
You two need to meet each other halfway.
Lily looked away.
“After a while, I stopped telling you.”
Adrian felt something inside him drop.
“When?”
“What?”
“When did you stop?”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
Then, very softly:
“When I realized it didn’t change anything.”
Adrian sat there long after Lily fell asleep again.
At 5:17 that morning, he sent one message to the head of security.
Do not touch the camera system.
A second message followed.
I want every second from the pool area.
