Chapter 6 - THE LITTLE GIRL WHO CHOSE HER
Brielle agreed to stay temporarily in a small apartment owned by Evelyn Moretti's charitable foundation.
It was secure.
Private.
And legally separate from Dominic's personal estate.
She insisted on paying what she could.
Evelyn accepted a modest contribution.
Brielle began searching for work.
She applied to restaurants.
Hotels.
Cafés.
But news of the attack had spread.
Some employers recognized her name.
Others were nervous about the connection to Dominic Moretti.
One afternoon, Evelyn invited her to lunch.
Brielle arrived wearing a simple blue dress.
Lily ran toward her.
“Miss Brielle!”
Brielle smiled.
“Hi, sunshine.”
Lily took her hand.
“Come see my room.”
Brielle looked toward Evelyn.
The older woman nodded.
Lily's room was enormous.
Pink curtains.
A dollhouse.
Bookshelves.
Stuffed animals.
But the little girl led Brielle toward a small table.
On it sat the drawing she'd made.
The brave lady.
The grandmother.
The sun.
Lily pointed.
“Daddy put it in a frame.”
Brielle stared.
“Did he?”
Lily nodded.
“He said brave people should be remembered.”
Brielle swallowed.
Then Lily looked up.
“Can you come again?”
Brielle smiled.
“Of course.”
The little girl hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Sometimes I get scared.”
Brielle knelt.
“Me too.”
Lily looked surprised.
“You do?”
Brielle nodded.
“All the time.”
Lily thought about that.
Then asked:
“Does being brave mean you stop being scared?”
Brielle shook her head.
“No.”
She took the child's small hand.
“It means you do the right thing even when you're scared.”
Lily smiled.
“Like you.”
Brielle's eyes filled.
From the doorway, Dominic watched silently.
He had arrived home early.
He'd expected to find his daughter playing with toys.
Instead, he found her listening to a woman who had nearly died protecting her.
And for the first time since Lily's mother had passed away two years earlier, Dominic heard his daughter laugh without the sadness that usually followed.
He stepped into the room.
“What's so funny?”
Lily grinned.
“Miss Brielle says brave people can be scared.”
Dominic looked at Brielle.
“She's right.”
Lily took both their hands.
“Then we're all brave.”
Dominic looked down at his daughter.
Then at Brielle.
And something inside him shifted.
Not because Brielle had saved his family.
May you like
But because she had given his daughter something he hadn't known how to provide.
A way to feel safe without pretending the world was harmless.
