The Rabbit Girl Who Shook the Walker Family Chapter 02
“Scammers start this young now?”
When the little girl heard the word “scammer,” she shrank back a little.
“I’m not a scammer.”
“Mommy said if someone owes money, you need a bill.”
She tucked the stuffed rabbit under her arm and looked down and searched through her small backpack. There was not much inside. A packet of crushed crackers. A thin little jacket. And a paper bundle wrapped in several layers of waterproof plastic. She opened the bundle and revealed a wrinkled hospital bill.
The edges had been worn soft. The little girl held it out with both hands.
“Look.”
“Mommy said this can settle the bill.”
Lucas did not take it. His gaze fell on the hospital bill. The hospital name was Southside Children’s Hospital. The date was three and a half years ago. The charge listed newborn inpatient observation. At the bottom, there was a handwritten note.
Father’s name: Lucas Walker. The handwriting was faint. But Lucas knew those three words. Emma Reed had written them. Lucas’s fingertips tightened. The damp air had softened the paper.
He looked at the little girl.
“What’s your mother’s name?”
The little girl blinked.
“Emma.”
“My name is Lily. Like Mommy’s favorite white flower.”
The words reached Lucas from three years ago, soft and sharp all at once. He did not move. Rainwater dripped from the eaves, one drop after another, striking the edge of the steps. Rachel had already walked over. She studied the child first, then turned to the hospital bill.
“Lucas, something this neat may not be real.”
“Hospital bills are easy to fake these days.”
Lily did not understand most of that.
She only heard “not real.”
The little girl panicked.
“It’s real.”
“Mommy said Lucas hurts here on the left.”
She stretched out one small hand and pointed to a spot below Lucas’s left shoulder.
“When it hurts, he can’t drink ice water.”
Lucas’s eyelashes moved. That was an old injury. When he was eighteen, he had flipped his car during a race. Other than the family doctor, not many people knew. Emma knew. She used to switch his ice water for warm water.
John’s expression darkened slightly. Old Mr. Walker stood with his cane. He walked to the foyer and studied Lily.
“Child, what’s your name?”
The little girl edged closer to Lucas without thinking.
“My name is Lily.”
“Mommy said Lily was her favorite white flower.”
“She said when I was little, I didn’t like to sleep, so she gave me that name and hoped I would be good.”
Old Mr. Walker’s gaze landed on her neck. Inside the collar of her raincoat, half of a family crest pendant showed. The pendant was tiny, hanging from a thin silver chain. Half of its edge was missing. Old Mr. Walker’s hand slowly tightened around his cane.
“Where did that come from?”
Lily looked down and touched the family crest pendant.
“Mommy gave it to me.”
“She said I couldn’t lose it.”
Rachel’s smile faded.
“Dad, what does one old family crest pendant prove?”
“Plenty of Walker family pieces have gone missing over the years. Who knows where she picked it up?”
Lily looked up at her.
“I didn’t pick it up.”
“Mommy sewed it into my little clothes.”
When she reached that point, she paused. Her stomach gave a small, embarrassing growl.
Gurgle.
The foyer was so quiet that everyone heard it. Lily covered her stomach with the rabbit. Her little face flushed.
“I didn’t come for food.”
“I came to collect what he owes.”
Lucas finally reached out and took the hospital bill. When the edge of the paper touched his palm, he realized his hand was cold. Old Mr. Walker noticed the child’s soaked shoes.
“Come inside first.”
Lily did not move.
She looked up and asked Lucas, “Can I?”
Lucas looked down at her. He had handled countless mergers and acquisitions and signed contracts worth billions. But for once, no contract language could answer a child. After a long silence, he moved aside.
“Come in.”
Lily hugged the stuffed rabbit and carefully stepped into the Walker estate. She walked two steps, then looked back at the rain. As if checking whether she had dirtied the carpet. Lucas saw mud along the edge of her soles. He was about to tell the butler to bring slippers. Lily had already crouched down and pulled a small handkerchief from her backpack.
She wanted to wipe the soles clean. Her hands were too small. After two wipes, she only spread rainwater across the carpet. Rachel gave a faint sigh.
“This child… Who knows who taught her all this?”
Lucas looked up.
“Enough.”
His voice was not loud. Rachel’s mouth stiffened. Lily raised her head. She did not know what she had done wrong, but tears had already gathered in her eyes. Lucas crouched down. Awkwardly, he took the handkerchief from her hand.
“You don’t have to clean the carpet.”
Lily whispered, “But Mommy said if I dirty someone else’s things, I have to pay.”
