Chapter 15 - The First Morning Maisie Chose Her Own Wig Again
Almost a year later, Audrey was sitting on the edge of Maisie’s bed with a pale-blonde wig in her lap.
Not the ruined one.
A new one.
Softer. Lighter. Chosen carefully and altered slowly over months with Maisie’s input.
It was the morning of Bellmere House’s relaunch of Nora’s unfinished children’s line—a collection for kids with hair loss and visible differences, dedicated quietly in her memory.
No one had asked Maisie to wear the wig.
No one had even suggested it that day.
Audrey simply set it beside her and said, “You can wear this if you want. Or not. Either way, we go exactly how you choose.”
Maisie looked at it for a long time.
Then at me.
Then back at Audrey.
“Will it stay mine?”
Audrey smiled. “Only yours.”
Maisie picked it up herself.
She held it with both hands, climbed off the bed, and walked to the mirror.
I stood in the doorway and said nothing.
Audrey helped only when Maisie asked.
When it was on, Maisie touched the soft blonde strands, then the white satin ribbon tied to her dress.
For one terrifying second, I thought she might cry.
Instead, she turned around slowly and grinned.
“Do I look fancy?”
I laughed—an actual laugh, the kind that feels impossible until it suddenly happens.
“You look exactly like yourself.”
That seemed to satisfy her.
She walked over, took my hand, and then reached for Audrey’s.
Downstairs, the house was full of guests again.
But this time there was no bride trying to erase her.
No woman mistaking ownership for power.
No one standing between my daughter and the place she had always belonged.
As we reached the top of the stairs, Maisie squeezed my hand and whispered, “I’m not scared.”
I looked at Audrey.
She looked back at me.
And in that quiet moment, with my daughter standing between us in the morning light, I finally understood what the real transfer had been all along.
Not the one in Warren’s folder.
Not the one Celeste tried to steal.
The real transfer was simpler.
May you like
Fear had been losing ground.
And my daughter, little by little, was getting her life back.
