Lilly watches her mother for a long moment. She reaches out her hand to me and I wind my fingers through hers. “I forgive you.” She says, her voice barely above a whisper. I whip my head around, searching her face. I never expected Lilly to say that, ever. The hate she holds for her mother is strong and deep seated.
There’s a long and awkward silence between the two of them. Mother and daughter estranged from one another. We came here today to meet an enemy and fight fire with fire, but their enemy is one and the same. Life has dealt the pair of them a shit hand. Jane didn’t handle it well and as a parent, that responsibility was hers. Some things can never be forgiven. Allowing a monster to rape your daughter is a level of failure that few will ever reach. I hate her for what she allowed to happen to Lilly. I know how hard saying those words must have been for Lilly. The things that happened to her could have been avoided, and yet they have robbed her of so much. That said, Jane is a victim of what life has thrown at her, and the two of them should have been bonded in their loss.
To forgive her mother…that’s massive for Lilly.
Jane stands up, wiping under her eyes.
“I will withdraw my statement against Harry.” She says quickly. Wordlessly she moves to the door and opens it. She takes one last look over her shoulder at Lilly and I. “Look after her.” She says to me. I nod, and then she’s gone.
As soon as the door clicks shut, Lilly releases a huge breath. She falls back against the sofa cushions, looking exhausted.
“You okay?” I ask her. She nods.
“Yeah, I am actually.”
“I have to say, sugar, you should get an Oscar for that performance.”
She nods and flicks her eyes down to her fidgeting fingers. “Do you think she really is sorry?” Her eyes find mine, a rare glimpse of vulnerability showing through. I reach out and touch her face.
“I’d like to think so.”
She nods. I can see the self-doubt written all over her features. I don’t blame her. Hate is an easy thing to hold onto. Forgiveness is much more difficult. “I need to call Harry.” She sighs. “He’s going to be so pissed.”
I frown. “Why?”
She stands up, taking her phone from her pocket. “I was supposed to get on a flight with him last night, to Norway.”
“What?!” I snap.
She smiles. “He didn’t think that you could do it.”
“No shit, and you were going to go, without telling me?” I seethe.
She shakes her head. “No, I decided to come with you instead. He gave me an ultimatum. He told me to be at that runway, even though he knew I wanted to give you time. He was asking me to choose, Theo.” Well shit. She turns away from me, typing on her phone as she goes. She heads into the bedroom and closes the door behind her. I can only imagine her brother’s response to her coming to Monaco with me. As if Harry didn’t hate me enough already. I can’t believe she did that. I know Lilly loves me, but protection and preservation is something that is so ingrained in her, I was sure there was nothing that could over-ride that. She abandoned her brother, on the chance that we could have a future together.
She’s in the bedroom for a long time. After a while, I press my ear to the door. I can’t hear any voices, so I knock gently and push the door open.
Lilly is sat on the bed with her back to the head-board. Her arms are wrapped around her bent knees. Her phone is on the bed in front of her and she’s just staring at it.
“Lilly?” Her face tilts up to look at me. Her face is blotchy and her eyes are blood shot from crying. I drop onto the edge of the bed, facing her. “Sugar, what’s wrong?”
She sniffs, and places her hands over her face. “He’s gone.” She whispers. “He’s gone to Norway.”
“But he’s coming back?” Why wouldn’t he come back?
She shakes her head. “He said he had already arranged to be away for a couple of months, so he’s going to stay there for a while.” She hiccups as a fresh wave of tears breaks free. “He was so hurt Theo. He thinks I chose you.”
“He knows it’s not like that.” I assure her.
She shakes her head. “But it is like that. He has always been there for me, given up everything for me, and when he was prepared to do it again, I chose you instead.”
“Lilly, you chose to try and have a life, surely he understands that?” I’m not actually so sure. Harry hates me. He thinks I’m not good enough for his sister, and maybe he’s right. He see’s every fuck up, all the things I’ve done to hurt her. I very much doubt he understands.