Chapter 5
That night, David asked me to stay.
Not as staff.
As witness.
As the only adult in the house Leo still trusted.
“I’ll pay you double,” he said.
I shook my head.
“This isn’t about money.”
“I know.”
“No,” I said. “You don’t.”
He looked at me.
I was tired enough to tell the truth.
“People like me are not believed in houses like this. We see things. We hear things. We report them, and then someone with prettier shoes says we misunderstood.”
His face tightened.
“I should have listened.”
“Yes.”
He accepted it.
No excuse.
That mattered.
Dr. Ellis arrived and examined my arm in the kitchen.
“Deep bruising,” she said. “No fracture, but you’ll need rest.”
Rest.
I almost smiled.
People like me did not get rest.
David heard the thought even though I did not say it.
“Take paid leave.”
“Leo needs someone.”
“I need to be his father.”
That silenced me.
Upstairs, Leo screamed when David tried to put him in bed.
Not because of David.
Because darkness had become punishment.
I stepped into the room.
Leo reached for me.
“Ria stay.”
David looked lost.
I sat in the rocking chair with my injured arm propped on a pillow.
David sat on the floor.
For two hours, Leo slept only when both of us stayed in sight.
At midnight, David spoke softly.
“Did Elena know?”
I looked at him.
“About Victoria?”
“No. About me.”
I frowned.
He looked down.
“That I was gone too much. That I let business become an excuse.”
I did not answer quickly.
Then I said, “She probably knew you loved him.”
“That isn’t enough.”
“No.”
His eyes filled.
“I missed the warning signs.”
“You trusted your wife.”
“I trusted a performance.”
That was true.
In the morning, child protective services came.
David answered every question.
He did not hide.
He did not polish.
He showed the closet.
The footage.
The bruise on my arm.
When the caseworker asked if Leo had a safe caregiver, David looked at me.
Then away.
May you like
“My first responsibility is to become one.”
For the first time, I believed he might.
