The Blue Room
Chapter 10 - The Blue Room
Evelyn found Marcus sitting inside Lily's childhood bedroom.
The blue room.
He had poured himself a drink.
For a moment, he looked less like a powerful executive and more like an exhausted old man.
“You shouldn't be here,” Evelyn said.
“I grew up in this house too.”
“Not in this room.”
Marcus looked at the faded blue walls.
“You never changed it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because some part of me kept waiting.”
He laughed bitterly.
“For Lily?”
“Yes.”
Marcus stared into his glass.
Then Evelyn asked the question that had been waiting eleven years.
“Why?”
He did not pretend not to understand.
At first, he blamed their father.
Their upbringing.
The pressure to preserve the Hart name.
Then he blamed Thomas for receiving the position Marcus believed should have been his.
Finally, he blamed Evelyn.
“You had everything.”
Evelyn was stunned.
“You were older. Smarter. Dad trusted you.”
“Not like he trusted you.”
“So you stole from a charity?”
Marcus slammed the glass down.
“I borrowed money.”
“For eleven years?”
“It became complicated.”
“No. It became criminal.”
He stood.
“You think Lily was some hero? She was twenty-one years old. She had no idea what she was looking at.”
“She knew enough to frighten you.”
That hit him.
Evelyn saw it.
Marcus walked toward the door.
“Where is the money?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
He stopped.
Then smiled.
“You still think this is about money.”
Evelyn's stomach tightened.
“What else is there?”
Marcus looked around the blue room.
“Ask Lily why Thomas visited her three weeks before he died.”
“I know he visited.”
“No.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You know he saw her.”
“What's the difference?”
“Everything.”
He left.
Evelyn stood alone.
That night, she called Lily.
At first, Lily didn't answer.
On the fourth call, she did.
“What?”
“Marcus said something about your father.”
Silence.
“Lily?”
“I can't do this tonight.”
“What happened when Thomas visited you the last time?”
Another silence.
Then Lily said quietly,
“Dad wasn't just visiting me.”
Evelyn gripped the phone.
May you like
“What was he doing?”
“He was leaving you.”
