"Mrs. Abbott, you really are blessed. Mr. Abbott is so young and capable, and your daughter is so well-behaved. We're all green with envy."
"Honestly! Did you see the way he looked at you just now? The man couldn't peel his eyes off you. Married all these years and still that smitten."
The pleasant chatter was interrupted by a voice dripping with affected sweetness.
"Is that so? Wasn't Mrs. Abbott trying to divorce Mr. Abbott just a month ago?"
"I heard she was in a terrible car accident on her way out, too. She must have remarkable recovery powers—back on her feet and looking this good after only a month."
"Then again, I hear her health is nothing like it used to be. After all, even her heart is artificial now. And poor little Marilyn—I heard she's only got one kidney left, and she's just six years old. What's going to become of her?"
The woman who had arrived was none other than Monica Mason, and beside her stood a seven-year-old girl.
That had to be the daughter Monica had mentioned—the one Thaddeus brought up in his study that day. Lily Acevedo.
Thaddeus had done an impeccable job of covering up the accident that had injured me and Marilyn. Not a single word had ever leaked.