Chapter 46

David couldn’t understand Claire’s words. “Unless you can find Aurora yourself…” Her tone had been calm, almost indulgent, as though she were speaking to a man who hadn’t yet grasped something obvious. It left him unsettled. He was a man who prided himself on being able to control, to acquire, to negotiate and win—but this time, he felt as if someone had closed a door right in his face. On the way home, his thoughts kept circling back—not to Marina’s tantrums, not to Claire’s cryptic answer—but to Lily. Her indifference, her barbed remarks, her smile that always seemed to cut straight through his pride. Why did it always come back to her? The car slowed to a stop in front of the house. David sat for a while, fingers drumming against the steering wheel, before finally stepping out. The night air was cool, carrying the faint scent of the garden roses Lily often watered herself. When he pushed open the door, the living room was quiet. Lily was there, though, curled up on the sofa with her