Chapter 2
Andrew didn't answer Sophia immediately.
Instead, he slowly turned toward Valerie.
She hadn't moved.
She was still standing exactly where Sophia had ordered her to stand.
Her tiny hands were trembling.
Her eyes never left the floor.
"Daddy..." she whispered.
"I'm sorry."
The apology shattered him.
Sorry?
For what?
He knelt in front of his daughter and gently took her hands.
Both palms were covered with thin red lines.
Not fresh enough to be bleeding.
Not old enough to have faded.
Repeated injuries.
Repeated punishments.
His stomach twisted.
"Who did this?"
Valerie glanced toward Sophia.
Then quickly looked away.
"No one."
Andrew had negotiated billion-dollar mergers.
He knew fear when he saw it.
His seven-year-old daughter wasn't protecting herself.
She was protecting the person hurting her.
Sophia folded her arms.
"I told you. She lies."
Andrew ignored her.
He carefully rolled down Valerie's uniform sleeves.
More bruises.
Small.
Yellowing.
Different ages.
His breathing became shallow.
"When did these happen?"
"I... fall sometimes."
Sophia laughed softly.
"She's clumsy."
Andrew looked up slowly.
"Stop talking."
For the first time since they married...
Sophia fell silent.
That night, after Sophia locked herself in the guest room claiming Andrew had "overreacted," he tucked Valerie into bed himself.
She lay unusually still.
As he kissed her forehead, he noticed something strange.
A tiny brown stain near the inside hem of her school blazer.
Not mud.
Not chocolate.
It looked almost...
Rust-colored.
He frowned.
"Sweetheart?"
"Yes?"
"What's this?"
Valerie immediately grabbed the jacket.
"It's nothing."
She tried pulling it away.
Andrew gently stopped her.
"Let Daddy see."
He turned the fabric toward the bedside lamp.
Blood.
Very old.
Very small.
Hidden where no teacher would easily notice.
His heart stopped.
He carefully checked the inside pocket.
There was something folded deep inside.
A tiny paper napkin.
Covered with childish handwriting.
If Mommy were here, she would know what to do.
Andrew couldn't breathe.
His first wife...
Emma...
Had died when Valerie was three.
Every photograph of Emma had disappeared after Sophia moved into the house.
Andrew had assumed Valerie was simply healing.
May you like
Now...
He wasn't so sure.
