What Teddy Remembered
Chapter 06 - What Teddy Remembered
Dante found the small zipper beneath the bear’s collar.
Elena stood beside Lily.
Vanessa stood alone near the staircase.
Dante pressed the small button inside the stitched heart.
At first, only nursery sounds filled the foyer. A drawer closing. The soft tune of the music box. Lily humming.
Then Vanessa’s voice.
“Give it to me.”
Lily’s recorded voice answered, “Mommy gave it to me.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Your mother is dead. I will decide what stays in this house now.”
Dante closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
A small struggle. The music box striking wood. Lily crying out. Elena entering.
“Please put it down, Miss Cole.”
Vanessa’s voice sharpened.
“You are fired.”
Then a slap.
Elena’s breath catching.
Then Vanessa again, colder than before.
“After the wedding, the girl goes away. Once Dante signs the guardianship papers, none of you will matter.”
Dante pressed stop.
Vanessa looked at him with fear and calculation fighting behind her eyes.
“You do not understand the context.”
Dante rose slowly.
He held the teddy bear in one hand.
“What context makes my daughter an obstacle?”
May you like
Vanessa’s mouth opened.
No answer came.
