Chapter 4 - THE DAUGHTER WHO STOPPED SPEAKING
Lily changed after I came home.
Not immediately.
Children don't heal because someone arrives.
They heal because someone stays.
She followed me everywhere.
Kitchen.
Bathroom.
Garage.
Even when I took out the trash.
One night, I found her sitting outside my bedroom door.
“Lily?”
She jumped.
“Sorry.”
My heart hurt.
“You don't have to sit there.”
She looked down.
“I wanted to make sure you didn't disappear.”
I sat beside her.
“I'm not disappearing.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Did you die before?”
The question nearly broke me.
“No.”
“Mommy said…”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“Was she lying?”
I paused.
Because children deserve honesty.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“Why?”
I didn't have an answer.
Not one a five-year-old should hear.
I hugged her.
“Sometimes grown-ups make bad choices.”
“Like leaving kids outside?”
I closed my eyes.
“Yes.”
That night, Buster slept between Lily's room and mine.
Like a guard.
Like he had done every night while I was gone.
The next morning, I found something.
A hidden camera.
In Lily's room.
My blood turned cold.
I removed it.
Called my attorney.
Then called my commander.
“This isn't just neglect.”
I looked at the camera.
“Someone was watching my daughter.”
Reed was silent.
Then said:
“Ethan.”
“Yes?”
“You need to know something.”
“What?”
“Brad Wilson has a history.”
I sat up.
“What kind?”
A pause.
“Complaints.”
“How many?”
“Enough.”
I looked at Lily's room.
At the stuffed animals.
The drawings.
The innocent things adults were supposed to protect.
And I made a decision.
No more warnings.
May you like
No more giving people chances.
Now I collected evidence.
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