Chapter 25 - Celeste did not ask Lily to call her aunt
Celeste stood when Lily entered.
Then immediately sat again.
No approach.
No open arms.
No tears performed as greeting.
She looked older.
Lily had seen current legal identification photographs during safety preparation.
Still, seeing her move was different.
“Hello, Lily.”
“Hi.”
No:
My sweet girl.
No:
Niece.
Good.
The mediator reviewed the rules.
Lily could stop.
Celeste could answer or decline questions.
No physical contact without Lily initiating.
No discussion of Dominic unless Lily asked.
No future-contact request during this meeting.
Celeste nodded.
Lily began.
“Do you remember what I looked like?”
Celeste went pale.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Small.”
“Obviously.”
Celeste almost smiled.
Stopped herself.
Then:
“You had a pale yellow shirt.”
Lily knew from evidence summaries.
“Anything else?”
“You kept hitting the tray with your left hand.”
Lily stared.
A real baby detail.
Not legal.
Not money.
“Did I cry?”
“Not before Dominic entered.”
“Did you think I trusted you?”
Celeste looked down.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I had held you before.”
“Changed you once.”
“Visited after you were born.”
“I was family to you in whatever way an infant understands familiar people.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“That makes it worse.”
“Yes.”
Good.
Then:
“Why did you say animal?”
Celeste took a long breath.
“Because I wanted the humiliation to be unmistakable on video.”
“That’s Grant answer.”
Celeste flinched.
Lily continued:
“You already had dog food.”
“Why words?”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“Because I was angry at Sofia.”
“Dead Sofia.”
“Yes.”
“And you wanted to say something cruel to her?”
“Through me?”
Celeste looked sick.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then Lily asked:
“Did you ever like my mom?”
“Yes.”
That surprised her.
“When?”
“Before Adrian died, sometimes.”
“She was funny.”
“Sharp.”
“She could be arrogant.”
“She could also be generous.”
Lily frowned.
“Dad says she was bad at cooking.”
Celeste laughed unexpectedly.
“She was catastrophic.”
Lily almost smiled.
Then remembered why they were there.
“Did Mom like you?”
Celeste wiped her eyes.
“Sometimes.”
“She did not trust my judgment about money.”
“Apparently correctly.”
“That answer felt rehearsed.”
“It probably is.”
Lily appreciated that.
Then:
“Do you want me to forgive you?”
Celeste’s breathing changed.
“Yes.”
“Do you think I should?”
“No.”
“Do you want to see me again?”
The rule prevented Celeste from requesting.
But Lily had asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you are Adrian’s niece.”
“That’s family entitlement.”
Celeste stopped.
Then corrected herself.
“Because I remember you.”
“Because I am ashamed that the last thing I did in your life was try to use you.”
“Because part of me wants a chance to know who you became.”
“None of those reasons create a right.”
Better.
Lily asked:
“Do you love me?”
Celeste stared.
“I don’t know you now.”
The answer shocked her.
Celeste continued:
“I loved the idea of being your aunt when you were born.”
“I had affection for you.”
“Then I harmed you.”
“I don’t want to use the word love now as if it proves something good about me.”
Lily sat back.
Everyone in this family apparently had a complicated relationship with that word.
Then:
“If we never meet again?”
“I will respect it.”
“Will you be sad?”
“Yes.”
“Would that be my fault?”
“No.”
Immediate.
Good.
At forty-seven minutes Lily began looking at the clock.
Celeste noticed.
“Do you want to stop?”
“I don’t know.”
“We can.”
Lily stared.
Then asked the question Dominic had hoped she never carried.
“Was Dad scary before?”
Celeste became still.
“Sometimes.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“Not before the nursery incident in a way I would characterize as a specific threat to harm me.”
“Was he violent?”
Celeste chose carefully.
“Your father had a reputation for using intimidation.”
“He had been around violent people.”
“Grant believed provoking him physically would work because that reputation was real.”
Lily listened.
Celeste continued:
“But I filed a petition claiming he was unsafe for you before I had evidence supporting that claim.”
“I intended to manufacture the evidence.”
“That was false.”
Both.
Dominic had a dangerous reputation.
Celeste still lied to court.
Lily nodded.
Then:
“Did dumping dog food on you count as violence?”
Celeste thought.
“It was physical humiliation.”
“He grabbed your wrist.”
“To stop the spoon.”
“He pushed you?”
“No.”
“I fell because I stepped backward.”
Lily had known from the recording summary.
Still wanted Celeste’s mouth saying it.
Then:
“Why did you smile?”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“Because I thought we had succeeded.”
That hurt more than almost anything.
Dominic had reacted.
Camera had captured him.
Celeste believed Lily’s humiliation had purchased the image.
Then it all collapsed.
Lily stood.
“Done.”
The mediator nodded.
Celeste remained seated.
No:
Please.
No:
One more thing.
Lily reached the door.
Then stopped.
“Celeste?”
The woman looked up.
Lily did not say Aunt.
Not yet.
“Thank you for answering.”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“You’re welcome.”
Lily left.
Dominic stood immediately.
Did not touch her until she moved toward him.
Then Lily hugged him.
Hard.
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Home?”
“Yes.”
In the car he asked nothing.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Then Lily said:
“She didn’t ask me to forgive.”
Dominic kept driving.
“Good.”
“She wants me to.”
“Those can both be true.”
“She remembers my yellow shirt.”
Dominic’s hands tightened on the wheel.
Then relaxed.
Lily noticed.
“I’m okay.”
“I know.”
“You don’t look okay.”
“That isn’t your job.”
Sofia’s lesson.
Still working.
Then Lily said:
“I don’t want to see her again right now.”
Dominic exhaled.
Too obviously.
Lily glared.
“Dad.”
“Sorry.”
“But maybe someday.”
His relief disappeared.
She almost laughed.
Then became serious.
“Can that be okay?”
Dominic looked at the road.
“Yes.”
It took effort.
That made it matter.
Lily had entered the meeting wanting answers.
She left with no forgiveness declaration.
No reunion.
No repaired family.
Only a more accurate person where a monster-shaped absence had been.
May you like
Sometimes that was enough.
👉 Lily finally met Celeste and heard the ugliest parts directly from her—but the meeting’s real test came afterward, when Dominic had to accept that “not now” was not the same thing as “never.”
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