Chapter 3 - THE FOURTH CHAIR
The next morning, Becca found four small chairs arranged around a miniature table.
Three were occupied.
The fourth was empty.
She asked the housekeeper, Rosa, about it.
Rosa went pale.
"That chair shouldn't be there."
"Why?"
"Mr. Duca ordered it removed after the fire."
Becca looked toward the girls.
Luna touched the empty chair.
Stella lowered her head.
Nova whispered:
"She sits there."
Becca crouched nearby.
"Who sits there?"
No answer.
She decided not to press.
Instead, she placed a small paper flower on the empty chair.
The girls stared.
Then Luna moved the flower to the center of the table.
Stella placed her wooden horse beside it.
Nova drew a triangle.
Becca began to suspect the fourth chair represented someone important.
Their mother.
A caretaker.
Or someone else.
That afternoon, she met Dr. Miriam Chen, the girls' trauma psychologist.
Dr. Chen listened carefully.
"The girls may be expressing memories through symbolic play," she explained. "But we shouldn't assume we know what the symbols mean."
Becca nodded.
"I don't want to suggest answers."
"Good. Let them lead."
Together, they developed a plan.
Short sessions.
Predictable routines.
No pressure to speak.
And careful documentation of anything the children volunteered.
That evening, Valentino watched through the sunroom doorway as Becca and the girls built a paper garden.
For the first time in two years, Stella smiled.
It lasted only a second.
But Valentino saw it.
Later, he found Becca in the kitchen.
"Thank you."
She looked surprised.
"For what?"
"She smiled."
Becca's expression softened.
"That's wonderful."
He looked down.
"I don't remember the last time I saw one of them smile."
Before Becca could answer, Rosa entered.
She carried a small envelope.
"No name. It was left at the gate."
Valentino opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
The summer house.
Taken the night before the fire.
May you like
On the back, someone had written:
THERE WERE FOUR CHILDREN IN THAT HOUSE.
