Chapter 2
Karen lunged for my phone.
I turned away, keeping Mia behind my shoulder.
“Don’t make this worse,” Karen hissed.
I stared at her.
“You were shoving my child into a cabinet.”
“She needed consequences.”
“She is two.”
“She understands more than you think.”
Mia whimpered against me.
“Dark box,” she whispered.
My heart stopped.
Dark box.
Not cabinet.
Dark box.
A name.
A familiar place.
I looked down at her.
“Baby, has she put you in there before?”
Karen snapped, “Do not answer that.”
Mia flinched so hard her head hit my chest.
That was answer enough.
I pressed 911.
Karen’s face changed instantly.
The rage disappeared.
Tears filled her eyes.
She backed away and lifted both hands.
“Daniel, please. I lost control for one second.”
I almost laughed.
The bruises on Mia’s wrist were in different colors.
Different days.
Different hurts.
One second did not leave a history.
The operator answered.
I gave my address.
“My wife hurt my daughter,” I said, and the words tasted like broken glass.
Karen sobbed loudly.
Fake sobs.
Loud enough for the call.
“She’s lying,” Karen cried.
“She fell. I was trying to help.”
I looked at her.
“You forgot I saw you.”
Her mouth snapped shut.
I carried Mia into the living room and sat on the couch with her in my lap.
She refused to let go of my shirt.
Her tiny fingers were locked in the fabric.
“Daddy stay?” she whispered.
My throat closed.
“Yes.”
“Daddy no work?”
I closed my eyes.
That was when I understood.
Work had become the door Karen waited for.
The second my car left the driveway, my daughter became trapped in a house with someone I had trusted.
“I’m not leaving you,” I said.
Karen stood in the kitchen doorway.
Her face was wet now, but her eyes were hard.
“You’re ruining our family.”
I kissed Mia’s hair.
“No. You already did.”
The police arrived eight minutes later.
A female officer named Harris knelt in front of Mia.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Mia hid her face.
Officer Harris did not push.
She looked at the bruises.
Then at the cabinet.
Then at Karen.
Her expression changed.
“Ma’am,” she said, “step away from the child.”
Karen lifted her chin.
“She’s my stepdaughter.”
May you like
Officer Harris answered coldly.
“Then you should have protected her.”
