The Slap He Could Never Forget

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Theron held the note between his fingers. Mrs. Bellamy stood beside the desk, her hands clasped so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

Corisande remained in the doorway.

Her eyes weren't fixed on Theron.

They were fixed on the rabbit.

"Answer me," she demanded.

"Where did you find it?""

Theron placed the note flat on the desk.

"Mrs. Bellamy found the rabbit in the linen cupboard.""

Corisande's gaze flicked toward the housekeeper.

"You were told to throw that thing away.""

Mrs. Bellamy straightened.

"I couldn't throw away a child's favorite toy.""

"It was filthy.""

"It was Eirlys's.""

Corisande stepped into the study and closed the door behind her.

"Leave us, Mrs. Bellamy.""

"No," Theron said.

Corisande stopped.

"What did you say?""

"I said Mrs. Bellamy is staying.""

"This is a private family matter.""

"It stopped being private when you hurt my daughter.""

Corisande gave a short, disbelieving laugh.

"You are going to believe a housekeeper over your own wife?""

"I'm going to believe the evidence in front of me.""

She pointed at the note.

"That could have been written by anyone.""

"It's written in my daughter's handwriting.""

"She's three, Theron. She scribbles on everything. You can't possibly think that means anything.""

He watched her face.

She was talking too quickly.

Three weeks earlier, she had apparently locked his daughter in a room. A frightened child had written a note asking her father to come home. Someone had hidden the rabbit, and Corisande had ordered it destroyed.

Now she wanted the note dismissed before anyone asked what it meant.

"Why was Eirlys locked in the playroom?"" Theron asked.

Corisande folded her arms.

"She was having a tantrum.""

"How long was she in there?""

"I don't remember.""

"Was she alone?""

"Of course she was alone. It was a timeout.""

"Did you tell the staff not to interfere?""

Her lips pressed together.

"Theron, I am not going to sit here and defend every ordinary parenting decision because you've decided your daughter is made of glass.""

"You're not her parent.""

The sentence landed harder than he intended.

Corisande stared at him.

"I am her stepmother.""

"Then act like someone who understands what that means.""

Her face flushed.

"You have no idea what I've sacrificed for this family.""

"What have you sacrificed, Corisande?""

She opened her mouth, but no answer came.

Theron moved the note toward her.

"Tell me why my daughter was afraid enough to write this.""

Corisande looked at the paper without touching it.

Then she laughed.

It was a thin, ugly sound.

"She knows how to manipulate you. She's learned that if she cries, you come running. If she says she's frightened, everyone drops everything. You have created this problem yourself.""

Theron felt his hands curl into fists.

"She is three years old.""

"And she knows exactly how to get what she wants!""

The shout echoed through the study.

Outside the door, footsteps stopped.

Corisande realized her mistake and lowered her voice.

"She cries whenever she doesn't get her way. She exaggerates. She makes up stories. And you encourage her by treating every little thing as a catastrophe.""

Theron stared at her.

"Has she ever told you she was afraid of you?""

"No.""

"Has she ever asked you not to come into her room?""

"No.""

"Has she ever hidden from you?""

Corisande hesitated.

That hesitation was enough.

Theron stepped around the desk.

"What aren't you telling me?""

"Nothing.""

"Look me in the eye and tell me you have never frightened her.""

She lifted her chin.

"I have never done anything that wasn't necessary to discipline her.""

It wasn't a denial.

It was an admission wrapped in a justification.

Theron turned toward the door.

"Julian will contact you about the next steps. Until then, you will stay in the guest suite. You will not be alone with Eirlys.""

Corisande stared at him as if he had struck her.

"You can't be serious.""

"I am.""

"You're choosing a toddler over your wife.""

"I'm choosing my daughter over your excuses.""

She snatched her handbag from the chair.

"Fine. But when you discover how much damage you've done by indulging her, don't expect me to help you fix it.""

She stormed out.

Mrs. Bellamy waited until the footsteps faded.

"Sir?""

Theron looked at the note again.

"Did you see what happened when she locked Eirlys in the playroom?""

"Not directly. I heard the door close. Later, I heard Miss Eirlys crying.""

"How long?""

"I don't know.""

"Why didn't you open the door?""

Mrs. Bellamy lowered her eyes.

"Mrs. Viremont told me she'd dismiss anyone who interfered. I thought perhaps she would calm down and let the child out.""

Theron rubbed a hand over his face.

He wanted to be angry with the housekeeper. Anger would have been easy. It would have allowed him to place the blame somewhere outside himself.

But he had employed the staff. He had brought Corisande into Eirlys's life. He had ignored the warnings because the woman he loved had told him everything was fine.

"You're not responsible for what Corisande chose to do," he said quietly.

"But if you see something like that again, you open the door. You call me. You call the authorities if you need to. Do you understand?""

Mrs. Bellamy nodded.

"Yes, sir.""

He picked up his phone and called Julian.

"Something else has happened," he said when his attorney answered.

"I need you to arrange a proper investigation. And I need to know what steps I can take to protect Eirlys immediately.""

"Has Corisande threatened her?""

"Not today. But I've found a note my daughter wrote asking me to come home. The housekeeper says Corisande locked her in a room three weeks ago.""

Julian's voice became serious.

"Keep the original note. Don't question Eirlys repeatedly or suggest answers to her. Let the child therapist speak with her in an age-appropriate way. We'll document what you know and get advice on the appropriate protective measures.""

After the call, Theron carried the rabbit upstairs.

Eirlys was sitting on his bed, arranging three stuffed animals in a row. She looked up when he entered, then smiled faintly.

"Daddy! Buttons is missing.""

Theron stopped.

The rabbit was in his hands.

He sat beside her.

"I found him, sweetheart.""

Eirlys reached for the toy, then noticed the torn seam.

Her smile disappeared.

"Mommy said he was bad.""

Theron kept his voice gentle.

"Why did Mommy say that?""

Eirlys pressed her lips together.

He remembered Julian's warning not to lead her or make her feel she needed to provide a particular answer.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," he said.

"You're not in trouble.""

She stroked Buttons's remaining ear.

"Mommy said he made me remember.""

Theron felt a chill run through him.

"Remember what?""

Eirlys looked toward the bedroom door.

"Can we close it?""

He got up and closed it.

When he returned, she had pulled the blanket into her lap.

"Mommy doesn't like when I tell.""

"Tell what, sweetheart?""

Eirlys stared at the rabbit.

"That she makes me stand in the dark.""

Theron sat very still.

"When does she do that?""

"When I'm noisy.""

"How long do you have to stand there?""

Eirlys held up three fingers, then lowered one.

"Sometimes this many sleeps. Sometimes just one.""

He fought the urge to ask a dozen more questions.

Instead, he reached for her hand.

"Thank you for telling me.""

She looked up at him.

"Will Mommy be mad?""

"No. You haven't done anything wrong.""

"But she says I make her mad.""

Theron took a slow breath.

"Adults are responsible for their own choices, Eirlys. Even when they're upset.""

She studied him, as if trying to decide whether the words were safe to believe.

Then she leaned against him.

"Daddy?""

"Yes?""

"Can we go to Grandma's house?""

His stomach tightened.

"Why do you want to go to Grandma's?""

"Because Mommy can't find me there.""

Theron looked at his daughter.

"Has Mommy ever taken you to Grandma's?""

Eirlys shook her head.

"She says Grandma doesn't want me.""

The answer struck him with unexpected force.

His mother, Eleanor Viremont, had adored Eirlys from the moment she was born. Since marrying Corisande, however, Theron had allowed the two women to drift apart. Corisande always had an explanation for missed visits, unanswered calls, and invitations that somehow never reached his mother.

He had accepted every one.

"Grandma loves you," he said.

Eirlys's eyes widened.

"She does?""

"More than you know.""

"Then why doesn't she come?""

Theron had no answer.

He remembered Eleanor's calls, her careful questions about Eirlys, and the way she had gone quiet whenever Corisande entered the room.

He had thought his mother was being difficult about his second marriage.

What if she had been trying to warn him?

That evening, after arranging for Eirlys to stay with him and ensuring she would not be left alone with Corisande, Theron called his mother.

Eleanor answered on the second ring.

"Theron? Is everything all right?""

"No, Mother. I need to ask you something.""

Her voice changed immediately.

"What happened?""

He told her about the slap. He told her about the note and the rabbit. He told her what Eirlys had said about standing in the dark.

Eleanor didn't interrupt.

When he finished, the silence on the line stretched so long that he checked whether the call had disconnected.

"Mother?""

"I'm here.""

"Did you know something was wrong?""

A shaky breath came through the phone.

"I suspected.""

Theron gripped the edge of his desk.

"What does that mean?""

"Three weeks ago, I came to the house to see Eirlys. Corisande told me she was sleeping, but I heard her crying upstairs. I went to the playroom and found the door locked.""

Theron's heart began to pound.

"What did you do?""

"I demanded that Corisande open it. She told me Eirlys was being disciplined and that I was undermining her authority.""

"Did you see Eirlys?""

"Only for a moment. She was sitting on the floor with her rabbit. She ran to me, but Corisande pulled her away.""

Theron closed his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?""

"I tried. You told me I needed to give your marriage a chance.""

He remembered the conversation.

He had been in the middle of a difficult acquisition. Eleanor had called while he was driving between meetings. She had sounded upset, and he had told her not to turn a disagreement about parenting into a family crisis.

He had ended the call after less than five minutes.

"Mother, I'm sorry.""

"I don't need an apology, Theron. I need you to protect that little girl.""

"I will.""

Eleanor took another shaky breath.

"There's something else you need to know.""

He straightened.

"What?""

"The day I found Eirlys in that room, Corisande told me something that made me afraid to leave her alone with your daughter.""

"What did she say?""

Eleanor's voice dropped to a whisper.

"She said that as long as Eirlys lived in this house, she would never be the most important person in your life.""

Theron stared through the study window at the darkening garden.

"Why would she say that?""

"Because I asked her why she seemed so angry whenever Eirlys wanted your attention.""

His mother paused.

"And, Theron, she said something else. Something I didn't understand at the time.""

"What?""

Eleanor's answer came slowly.

"She said she hadn't married you to spend the rest of her life raising another woman's child.""

Theron felt the room close around him.

He had believed Corisande wanted a family.

Now he wondered whether she had wanted something else entirely.

Before he could ask another question, Eleanor spoke again.

"Theron, I kept something from you because I wasn't certain what it meant. But after hearing what happened today, I think you need to see it.""

"What is it?""

"A photograph.""

"Of what?""

"Corisande. Taken before your wedding.""

Theron frowned.

"What does a photograph have to do with this?""

His mother was silent for a moment.

Then she said, "Look at the woman standing beside her, Theron. You'll understand why I never trusted your wife.""

The following morning, an envelope arrived at the estate.

Inside was a single photograph of Corisande standing outside a hospital, her hand resting on the shoulder of an older woman Theron had never seen before.

On the back, Eleanor had written a date.