Chapter 2 - Nobody Asked What Vanessa Had Done
Daniel took Lily upstairs and locked the bedroom door.
He checked her carefully.
No bleeding.
No obvious serious injury.
Just a frightened little girl who flinched every time someone raised their voice downstairs.
That was enough.
Daniel called Lily’s pediatrician and described the fall.
The nurse advised him what symptoms to watch for and told him to bring her in immediately if anything changed.
Then Lily said something Daniel could not stop hearing.
“Daddy work. Vanessa mean.”
He sat beside her.
“How many times?”
Lily was too young to give him dates.
She pointed toward the hallway.
“Grandma there.”
Daniel understood.
Margaret had seen it.
Maybe more than once.
Downstairs, Vanessa was already telling the remaining relatives that Daniel had “lost his mind.”
Margaret insisted Lily had been “difficult lately.”
Nobody said Vanessa had not mistreated her.
That omission mattered.
Daniel packed a bag for Lily.
Vanessa blocked the front door.
“You’re taking my stepdaughter away from her home?”
“My daughter.”
“I live here too.”
“For tonight.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You think one tantrum from a toddler proves anything?”
Daniel looked toward the dining room.
“No.”
May you like
Then he looked at the family members avoiding his eyes.
“But all of you pretending you didn’t see anything might.”
