could barely hear myself. “I don’t want you in my life. I’m very busy right now. I don’t have time for this.”
Her face didn’t twist in anger. It didn’t harden.
She just smiled — a small, sad smile that broke something deep inside me.
“I understand,” she whispered.
And she walked away.
I sat there shaking, telling myself I had done the right thing. I had protected my family. My children didn’t need confusion. Daniel didn’t need complications. The past had no place in our carefully built present.
The next morning, my phone rang while I was folding laundry.
It was Daniel.
His voice was strange — tight, urgent.
“I met your daughter,” he said.
My blood froze.
“You need to come home. Now.”
The drive felt endless. My hands trembled on the steering wheel. A thousand scenarios raced through my mind — confrontation, exposure, destruction.
When I walked into the kitchen,
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