Chapter 23: I'll Sleep With You Tonight

Lily took the box. "Thank you."

She left without a backward glance.

Nathan's smile dropped the moment she was gone. He turned toward the floor-to-ceiling window, taking in the sprawl of the city below, half the skyline laid out beneath him.

A while later, he watched from above as Lily stepped out onto the curb and flagged down a taxi.

Even with the usage logs Dr. Lee had sent over, something about it all still gnawed at him.

Might as well get her a new car, then.

Eleanor's recovery was going remarkably well.

By the third day, she was up and walking a few steps on her own.

Lily arrived at the ward carrying a thermos and paused outside the door at the sound of Nadia's bright laughter drifting through. "Grandma, you're hilarious. The second you're back on your feet, I'm coming to see those geese you raise back home."

"I'll make you a whole pot of braised goose," Eleanor said, delighted. "You'll be dreaming about it after one bite."

"Deal!"

Lily pushed the door open.

Both women turned.

She set the thermos down on the side table and opened it. "Dinner's ready, Grandma."

Nadia propped her chin on her hand, a flicker of guilt crossing her face. "I really had no idea the Sterlings would even be at that auction."

Eleanor, curious, looked up between bites. "What auction?"

Nadia scrambled for a cover story

But Lily beat her to it. "I finally got the necklace back. Bought it from Mr. Sterling himself."

Eleanor's eyebrows shot up. She looked between the two of them. "What kind of secret are you two keeping from me?"

Lily had actually planned to give her grandmother the necklace today anyway. She reached into her bag and pulled out a slim velvet box.

Eleanor's whole face lit up. "Goodness is that... my dowry? The one I had to pawn off, all those years ago? Where on earth did you find this?"

Before Lily could answer, Nadia jumped in. "Grandma, my sister-in-law actually sketched out exactly what it looked like so I'd recognize it if it ever surfaced."

"And wouldn't you know it turned up at one of my auctions. I recognized it instantly and told her right away."

She kept going, curious. "I was backstage most of that night handling logistics, so I only caught bits and pieces from the auctioneer afterward. Apparently there was a woman on the main floor who kept driving the bid up, and my brother ended up lighting a lantern just to make sure she won it."

Lily said nothing.

Eleanor blinked, baffled. "You city folk and your strange sayings. What does 'lighting a lantern' even mean?"

Nadia explained simply, "At an auction, if someone really wants a piece, they can light a lantern to signal they'll top any bid by the smallest possible increment, no matter how high it climbs."

Understanding dawned on Eleanor's face. She ran her thumb gently over the necklace the only thing her own mother had ever left her. "I always knew Nathan was a good boy at heart. It's just a necklace, and he spent that kind of money to get it back for me. Would you believe it?"

Nadia smiled. "My brother really does adore her, Grandma. Two years of marriage and he's already filled a whole room with gifts for her. I want to find a husband exactly like him someday."

Eleanor carefully tucked the necklace back into its box and set it, with obvious reverence, on her nightstand.

Lily let out a slow breath.

As long as Grandma's happy. That's all that matters.

Nadia had somewhere to be that afternoon and excused herself after a short while. Lily walked her out.

Once they were alone in the hallway, Nadia gripped her hand tightly. "I never got the chance to apologize properly. That night at the club Grandma put me up to it. She's desperate for a great-grandchild. Please don't hold it against me."

Lily patted the top of her head, tone somewhere between fond and stern. "Don't ever do that again. It's illegal, you know."

Nadia nodded vigorously, eyes crinkling into an easy, innocent smile. "I'm off to work now! I'll come see Grandma again soon."

Lily nodded and watched her disappear into the elevator before turning back.

Her phone rang. Nathan.

She answered. "Hello."

His voice came through smooth and warm. "Lily, good news Starfall's officially separated from Pierce Group. It's entirely yours now."

That's not good news. At best, it was simply the return of something that had always belonged to her.

"Understood," she said.

"Need help finding office space?"

"No, I'll handle it myself. Have Ryan send over all the studio's records and paperwork, along with the formal separation agreement."

Nathan laughed. "You'll actually be able to make sense of all that?"

She paused, then said, "I didn't need to before. I do now. Even if I don't understand it today, I'll learn."

He murmured a few agreeable okays, then, "Whatever makes you happy."

The call had barely ended when Chloe rang in, breathless. "Lily, it's bad Frank, Wendy, half the team just handed me resignation letters and asked me to forward them to you. I've been stalling them, but you need to get down here and talk to them!"

Lily said a quick goodbye to Eleanor and drove straight to the studio.

Everyone was gathered in the main hall, exchanging uneasy glances.

Every face familiar.

Every one of them someone she'd personally hired.

The moment she walked in, eyes dropped to the floor across the room.

Chloe stood off to the side, eyes red-rimmed, stamping her foot in frustration.

Lily took it all in silently, then crossed the room and sat down.

The tension in the room spiked.

Linda, the most senior employee present, finally stood. "Mrs. Pierce, we feel terrible about this, but the reality is the studio's future looks grim now that it's on its own."

"With Pierce Group behind us, we had guaranteed contracts, connections, funding. Without that, we're on our own in a brutal market..."

"I'm sorry. We all have families depending on us. You can afford to gamble on this. We can't."

Others nodded along, murmuring agreement.

They were clearly bracing for her to refuse the resignations outright.

Technically, they could have escalated through the labor board but that route was slow, messy, and risked burning bridges nobody wanted burned.

Lily sat in silence for a long stretch.

The room grew more restless by the second.

"Mrs. Pierce, people have to look out for themselves. Water flows downhill please understand."

"You can't ask us to sacrifice everything for your career."

Lily's eyes moved over the collective resignation letter on the table, scanning the familiar signatures one by one. Finally, she nodded. "Okay."

The room froze, stunned.

They'd all braced for a fight some plea to stay, some counteroffer.

Instead, all they got was a single word.

Lily handed the letter to Chloe. "Take this to my office and get it stamped company seal and my signature both."

"Lily"

"Go ahead."

Chloe carried it off and came back with everything properly stamped.

The group accepted their letters. "Wishing you the best going forward, Mrs. Pierce."

They filed out quickly, one after another.

Once the room emptied, Chloe rounded on the door, furious. "Frank's last company went under and he was desperate when you took him on. And Wendy her kid was sick, and you let her work half days at full pay for months. What a bunch of ungrateful"

Lily cut her off gently, patting her hand. "They're not ungrateful. They're ordinary people, thinking about their families' futures. That's fair. Chloe, I'll give you three months' severance if you"

"I'm not going anywhere." Chloe straightened, chin lifted, eyes fierce. "I couldn't find work after graduation. You hired me. You're the one who pushed me to get certified in pyrotechnic design in the first place. I'm staying. We rebuild this together."

Lily felt something catch in her throat. "Thank you, Chloe. Since you're staying, I won't waste time pretending this is easy. I need to head to the business registry, the licensing office, and file the change of ownership paperwork."

"And find us somewhere new to work out of reasonably priced. We're on Pierce turf here. We need to move."

Chloe nodded firmly. "On it."

Knock knock knock.

"Come in."

Toby stepped into Adrian's study, so nervous his arms and legs moved in perfect, awkward unison, like a small penguin marching across the floor.

Adrian set his paperwork down. "What is it?"

Toby crossed the room, stopping a careful distance away.

He tilted his chin up, swallowed hard, and said, "I'll sleep here tonight. I won't ask for my mom. Can you help me with something?”