Chapter 3
The next morning Andrew canceled every meeting.
Instead of sending a driver...
He took Valerie to school himself.
Her teacher, Mrs. Bennett, looked surprised.
"Mr. Salgado."
"May I speak with you privately?"
The moment the classroom door closed, Mrs. Bennett's expression changed.
"I've been hoping you'd come."
Andrew frowned.
"What do you mean?"
She opened a desk drawer.
Inside sat a thick folder.
"My principal told me not to interfere without proof."
She placed the folder on the table.
Attendance records.
Behavior charts.
Drawings.
Photographs.
Andrew stared.
Every picture Valerie drew featured one thing.
A woman with angel wings.
Standing outside the house.
Watching through the window.
"She draws her mother every week," Mrs. Bennett said quietly.
"But she refuses to take the pictures home."
Andrew swallowed.
"Why?"
Mrs. Bennett hesitated.
"Because..."
"...she says her stepmother burns them."
His knees nearly gave out.
Mrs. Bennett continued.
"Three months ago Valerie stopped smiling."
"Then suddenly..."
"...she became the perfect student."
Straight A's.
Perfect homework.
Never speaking out of turn.
Never asking questions.
"I thought she had matured."
The teacher looked directly into Andrew's eyes.
"But children don't change that much overnight."
"They change when they're terrified."
Then she showed him something else.
Photos taken during recess.
Valerie always wore long sleeves.
Even in warm weather.
She never joined games.
She never ran.
"She told the school nurse she wasn't allowed to get dirty."
"Why?"
Mrs. Bennett's voice broke.
"Because if her uniform needed washing twice..."
"...she lost dinner."
Andrew closed his eyes.
Every business deal he'd ever celebrated.
Every late-night conference call.
Every weekend he'd missed.
May you like
While he believed he was building security for his daughter...
She had been learning how to survive.
