Chapter 2 - The Rules Behind the Bedroom Door
For several seconds, Chadworth could only stare at his daughter.
The chandelier above the living room illuminated everything around them with its familiar golden warmth. The marble floors still gleamed. Fresh flowers stood in crystal vases. Beyond the windows, gardeners continued their morning work, unaware that the Prescott family's future had just been shaken.
But Chadworth barely noticed any of it.
He was looking at Lorelai.
"What did you say, sweetheart?"
She tightened her grip on Gemma's hand.
"Miss Sabina told us you signed papers."
"What kind of papers?"
"I don't know. She said they meant she could make decisions about us if we were bad."
Chadworth felt anger rise in his chest.
He forced himself to keep his expression calm.
"Did she show you those papers?"
Lorelai shook her head.
"She showed us a folder. It had your name on it."
Gemma looked down at her rabbit.
"She said bad girls go somewhere else."
Rosamund closed her eyes briefly.
Chadworth heard the words as if they had traveled through a long, dark tunnel.
"Somewhere else?"
Gemma nodded.
"A place where Daddy can't come."
His heart sank.
He wanted to promise that nothing like that could ever happen. But he was beginning to understand how dangerous careless promises could be.
He had spent months telling his daughters everything was fine while failing to notice that they were afraid.
This time, he chose his words carefully.
"Nobody can simply take you away because someone says you've been bad. I'm going to find out exactly what those papers are. And I want you to tell me whenever something scares you."
Lorelai studied him.
"Even if it's about someone you love?"
He felt the question settle painfully between them.
"Especially then."
Gemma reached for his hand.
"Are you still going to marry Miss Sabina?"
"No, sweetheart."
"Not even if she says she's sorry?"
Chadworth looked toward the front door.
"No. Being sorry doesn't erase what someone did. And someone who hurts you doesn't get to stay close to you just because I once loved them."
Rosamund quietly offered to take the girls upstairs.
Chadworth hesitated.
Part of him wanted to keep them beside him every second. But he also understood that his daughters needed familiarity, not more sudden changes.
"Would you like Rosamund to help you get ready for lunch?" he asked them.
Gemma nodded.
Lorelai remained uncertain.
"Will you still be here?"
Chadworth crouched until their eyes were level.
"I'm not going anywhere today."
She looked unconvinced.
"Not even for work?"
He took his phone from his pocket and switched it off.
"Not even for work."
For the first time that morning, Lorelai's shoulders relaxed slightly.
As the girls walked toward the stairs with Rosamund, Chadworth turned to Graham.
"Find out who has access to every entrance and security system. I want Sabina's permissions disabled immediately."
"Already started, sir."
"And ask our attorney to come here."
"Ms. Price?"
"Yes. Tell Miriam it's urgent."
Graham nodded.
"There's something else you should know."
Chadworth turned.
"Go ahead."
"The cameras in the common areas have been recording for months. The footage is archived, but most of it hasn't been reviewed."
"Can we retrieve it?"
"Yes, sir."
Chadworth looked toward the staircase.
"Preserve everything. I don't want anyone changing or deleting a file."
Graham hesitated.
"That could be a substantial amount of footage."
"Then we'll review it properly."
He paused.
"And Graham? No staff member is to be accused or questioned aggressively. We have already done enough damage by making assumptions."
The security chief inclined his head.
"Understood."
An hour later, attorney Miriam Price arrived.
She was in her early fifties, with neatly styled silver-blond hair and an expression that rarely revealed surprise. She had handled Chadworth's business affairs for nearly a decade.
But when he explained the situation, she became visibly concerned.
"You never signed a guardianship agreement naming Sabina, correct?"
"Absolutely not."
"And you never authorized her to make permanent decisions concerning your daughters?"
"No."
Miriam placed her briefcase on the table.
"Then the first thing we need to establish is whether these documents exist, and if so, what they actually say."
"Could she have forged my signature?"
"Possibly. But I won't speculate without seeing the paperwork."
Chadworth leaned forward.
"She told my daughters I had given them away."
Miriam's expression softened.
"Chadworth, whatever those documents contain, your first responsibility is to make those children feel safe. We can handle the legal questions separately."
He nodded slowly.
For years, he had trusted professionals to solve problems. Attorneys dealt with contracts. Financial advisers handled investments. Security officers managed threats.
But nobody could repair his relationship with his daughters on his behalf.
That work belonged to him.
After Miriam left to coordinate the document search, Chadworth went upstairs.
He knocked gently on Lorelai's bedroom door.
"May I come in?"
There was a pause.
"Okay, Daddy."
The room looked almost exactly as it had when Elena was alive.
White curtains hung beside the windows. A shelf displayed small trophies from school competitions. Family photographs stood beside a collection of storybooks.
Lorelai was sitting on her bed.
Gemma had fallen asleep nearby, her stuffed rabbit tucked beneath her chin.
Rosamund stood beside the dresser.
"I was just about to leave, sir."
Chadworth shook his head.
"You don't have to."
Rosamund looked uncertain.
He realized she had spent so long navigating the household's invisible hierarchy that even kindness could make her uncomfortable.
"Rosamund, I owe you an apology."
She lowered her eyes.
"Mr. Prescott—"
"Please let me finish."
He drew a slow breath.
"I allowed someone to make accusations against you without properly listening to your side. I should have recognized how much my daughters trusted you."
Rosamund's eyes became moist.
"I only wanted them to feel safe."
"I know that now."
She hesitated before answering.
"With respect, sir, I tried to tell you something was wrong."
Chadworth felt his stomach tighten.
"When?"
"Three months ago. After dinner. You were leaving for a meeting."
He remembered that evening.
Rosamund had approached him near the entrance hall. He had been speaking on the phone and told her to discuss household matters with Sabina.
He had forgotten the interaction almost immediately.
Rosamund clearly hadn't.
"I thought perhaps you were too busy," she said.
Chadworth looked down.
"I was too busy to hear something I should have made time for."
Lorelai spoke from the bed.
"Rosamund tried to help us."
Chadworth turned.
His daughter had opened a drawer and taken out a small purple notebook.
"Miss Sabina said we had to remember all the rules."
Chadworth sat beside her.
"What rules?"
Lorelai opened the notebook.
The pages were filled with careful childish handwriting.
RULE ONE: Don't cry where Daddy can hear.
RULE TWO: Don't tell Rosamund everything.
RULE THREE: Smile when Daddy gets home.
RULE FOUR: Never say Miss Sabina is mean.
Chadworth's throat tightened.
There were more.
Don't ask Daddy to stay home.
Don't talk about Mommy at dinner.
Don't make Miss Sabina angry.
At the bottom of one page, a sentence had been written in noticeably different handwriting.
Good girls keep family secrets.
Chadworth stared at it.
He recognized Sabina's elegant, slanted lettering.
Lorelai watched his reaction.
"She made me copy them so I'd remember."
Chadworth gently closed the notebook.
"Sweetheart, none of these are rules you have to follow anymore."
Lorelai looked toward the sleeping Gemma.
"She said you'd be disappointed if you knew."
"I'm disappointed in myself for not knowing sooner."
His daughter moved a little closer.
For several minutes, they simply sat together.
Then Lorelai spoke again.
"There's another thing."
Chadworth waited.
"She made us practice talking to a camera."
A cold sensation moved through his chest.
"What did she make you say?"
May you like
Lorelai's eyes filled with tears.
"That Rosamund hurt us... and that we didn't feel safe when you were home."
