He Deceived Me So I Destroyed His Family’s Legacy Chapter 13
Not long after leaving Manhattan, we abandoned the car in Yonkers.
The doctor got us onto a small boat heading north up the Hudson River. He left our coats from the car at a fork in the road leading toward Connecticut, creating a false trail.
By dawn, the sound of the Blackwood convoy was far behind us.
I sat in the small cabin, holding Lily.
Her fever was high. Her forehead burned, but she kept murmuring,
“Nora, don’t go back.”
“Nora, don’t give me to him.”
I held her hand tightly.
“We’re not going back.”
“No one will ever take you away again.”
The doctor knelt beside us, giving her a shot to bring down the fever.
His hands were steady, but his voice was quiet.
“The psychological trauma is severe. Don’t push her.”
“First, she needs to feel safe. She needs to understand that Julian isn’t here.”
I looked at Lily, dazed.
She used to love being around people.
Before the Hale family went bankrupt, she would cling to my arm and pout, saying one day she wanted to marry someone who would pick flowers for her.
Now, even the sound of footsteps made her tremble.
Three days later, we settled in the river town of Cold Spring.
It was quiet there. In the mornings, you could hear the bell on the bakery door. In the evenings, the boats returning to the dock glowed with small lights.