Chapter 10 - THE HOME THAT MONEY COULDN'T BUY
“Daddy, why do we have so many rooms?”
Lily stood in the hallway of Gabriel's mansion, looking toward a staircase that seemed to stretch forever.
Gabriel smiled.
“I've asked myself that question lately.”
She counted the doors.
“One, two, three…”
By the seventh, she'd lost track.
“Do people sleep in all of them?”
“No.”
“Then why are they there?”
Gabriel looked around.
He had spent years acquiring beautiful things.
Paintings.
Furniture.
Properties.
Expensive objects that impressed people he barely knew.
But he couldn't remember the last time anyone had asked a question as simple as Lily's.
“I suppose I thought I needed them.”
Lily looked concerned.
“That's silly.”
He laughed.
“Yes, sweetheart. It is.”
Three months had passed since Isabella's surgery.
Her recovery wasn't easy.
Some mornings she grew tired after walking only a short distance.
Other days, she felt stronger and insisted on preparing breakfast herself.
Gabriel had offered to hire a full household staff.
Isabella declined.
“I want Lily to grow up knowing that ordinary life matters,” she told him.
Gabriel had accepted that.
Instead, he'd arranged for a home health aide during the early weeks of recovery and worked with Isabella to make her apartment comfortable.
He didn't want to take over her life.
He wanted to become part of it.
They were taking their relationship slowly.
Some evenings, they shared dinner.
Sometimes Isabella asked him to leave early because she was exhausted.
He never argued.
And every Saturday morning, he helped Lily practice piano.
He was still terrible at the final note.
She loved reminding him.
But something else had begun troubling Lily.
One evening, Gabriel found her sitting on the kitchen floor with a small plastic container.
Inside were crackers.
Two slices of bread.
And a wrapped piece of cheese.
“What are you doing, sweetheart?”
She looked embarrassed.
“Saving it.”
“For what?”
“Later.”
Gabriel crouched.
“Are you hungry?”
She shook her head.
“Not now.”
“Then why save it?”
Lily stared at the container.
“Sometimes Mommy was too tired to make dinner. Miss Rose gave us food, but I didn't know when she'd come.”
Gabriel's throat tightened.
He sat beside her.
“Lily, you don't have to hide food here.”
She looked at him.
“What if we run out?”
He carefully considered his answer.
He didn't want to frighten her with big promises.
And he didn't want her to feel ashamed.
“We'll make sure you have meals,” he said. “And if you're worried, you can tell me.”
She looked down.
“Can I still keep the crackers?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Of course.”
They placed the container together in a kitchen drawer.
Then he added a small label.
LILY'S SNACKS.
When Isabella heard about it, she hugged Gabriel.
“Thank you for not taking them away.”
He looked confused.
“Why would I?”
“Some people think a child should stop being afraid as soon as life gets better.”
Gabriel thought about that.
He had spent five years living inside a lie.
He knew how long fear could survive after the danger was gone.
“I'll let her take her time,” he said.
Isabella leaned against him.
For a moment, they stood together without speaking.
Then she whispered, “You're learning.”
Gabriel smiled.
“I have a very good teacher.”
But the peaceful weeks didn't last.
The Ashford Family Foundation was still undergoing a financial investigation.
Meredith's removal had damaged the organization's reputation.
Several major donors had suspended contributions.
And the children's music center Isabella had helped establish was struggling.
The center occupied an old brick building in Queens.
It offered free lessons, after-school activities, and meals for children from low-income families.
Some of those children came from Harbor House.
Gabriel had arranged temporary support for the program, but he wanted the center to operate independently under responsible oversight rather than rely on his personal generosity forever.
He asked Beatrice to develop a transparent funding plan.
Isabella wanted to teach there again when her doctors cleared her.
Lily insisted on helping.
“I can put the pencils in cups,” she announced.
Gabriel nodded solemnly.
“A very important job.”
On a Thursday afternoon, the three of them visited the building.
Inside were faded posters, scratched music stands, and a piano that hadn't been tuned in years.
Isabella ran her fingers over the keys.
“This is where I taught my first class.”
Gabriel stood beside her.
“We'll bring it back.”
She looked at him.
“Not because you owe me.”
“I know.”
“Because these children deserve it.”
Gabriel nodded.
“That's why.”
But when they stepped outside, a city inspector was waiting near the entrance.
He introduced himself and handed Gabriel an official notice.
The building had failed a safety inspection.
Electrical problems.
A damaged emergency exit.
A deteriorating support beneath the upstairs rehearsal room.
The center could not reopen until the repairs were completed and approved.
Gabriel read the notice carefully.
“We can fix this.”
The inspector nodded.
“Possibly. But there's another problem.”
He pointed toward the bottom of the document.
The building's temporary operating permit was approaching expiration.
If the required corrections weren't completed and reviewed within the available period, the program would need to apply again under stricter requirements.
Gabriel looked at Isabella.
Her face had gone pale.
Then Lily stepped forward.
She held a small paper cup filled with sharpened pencils.
“Are the kids still coming?”
The inspector looked at her gently.
“Not yet, sweetheart.”
Lily turned toward the building.
“But Mommy said we're going to teach them.”
Gabriel put an arm around her shoulders.
“We're going to try.”
Then Beatrice arrived from the foundation office with the latest property records.
She approached Gabriel quietly.
“There's something you need to see before promising anything.”
He opened the folder.
The center's building wasn't owned by the foundation.
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It was owned by North Point Development.
And the company had just received a foreclosure notice.
