Chapter 4
Garrett had been raised to control rooms.
Never rush.
Never raise your voice.
Never show surprise unless you intend people to fear what follows.
But Posie shattered that training.
The little girl clung to Mave’s gown with both hands, silently watching him as if she had been taught not to expect comfort from powerful people.
That hurt him.
He did not know why yet.
Or maybe he knew too quickly.
Her eyes.
The shape of her mouth.
The cautious tilt of her head.
A memory of Mave laughing in an old Brooklyn apartment before everything ended.
Before the silence.
Before his mother told him Mave had chosen money and vanished.
Before Garrett hardened himself against a woman he thought had abandoned him.
Now Mave stood in front of him, soaked from the weather, frightened but unbroken.
And she had not come alone.
“Why did you hide her from me?” he asked.
The question came out harsher than he meant.
Mave flinched.
Then she lifted her chin.
“I didn’t leave you. Your mother made me disappear.”
The estate seemed to go still around them.
Garrett did not ask what that meant.
Not yet.
Because behind Coraline, an older man in black suddenly stopped breathing normally.
May you like
And Garrett saw guilt before explanation.
Read the full story 👉 Garrett had spent years believing Mave left him, but her answer pointed directly back into his own family.
