Chapter 3: The Room Full of Secrets
I stared at Meliora's message until the words blurred.
*You shouldn't have opened that door.*
Not:
Why are you in there?
Not:
What are you doing?
Not:
Please come talk to me.
Just a warning.
A cold, simple warning.
Like she wasn't surprised.
Like she had been waiting for this moment.
I slowly lowered my phone.
The room around me suddenly felt different.
The air felt heavier.
The drawings on the walls weren't just paper anymore.
They were pieces of my daughter that someone had collected, judged, and hidden away.
I stepped inside.
The door creaked behind me.
The tiny sound made me look back, almost expecting Meliora to be standing there.
She wasn't.
But I knew she would be coming.
The room was small.
A forgotten guest room that had slowly become a storage space.
Old boxes sat stacked in the corners.
Winter clothes.
Books.
Things we didn't use anymore.
But the walls...
The walls belonged to Kerensa.
There were drawings everywhere.
A family holding hands.
A house with flowers.
A picture of a dog.
A picture of me.
A picture of her.
Each one had red words written across them.
LIAR.
BAD.
MANIPULATIVE.
FAKE.
DRAMATIC.
My stomach twisted.
Some of the drawings were clearly from when she was younger.
The handwriting changed over time.
At first, the words were messy.
Uneven.
Like a child trying to write.
Later, they became cleaner.
More deliberate.
Meliora had been doing this for a long time.
I picked up one drawing from the floor.
It showed three people standing under a yellow sun.
Me.
Kerensa.
Meliora.
The three of us smiling.
Above our heads were hearts.
In the corner, in small letters, Kerensa had written:
*My happy family.*
Across my face was written:
*He doesn't know.*
I froze.
I turned the paper over.
Nothing.
I looked at another.
A picture of Kerensa holding flowers.
*She pretends.*
Another.
A picture of her and a teddy bear.
*She wants attention.*
Another.
A picture of her sitting alone.
*Nobody believes her.*
My hand started shaking.
These weren't random insults.
These were accusations.
Someone had been creating a story about my daughter.
A story where she was the problem.
A story where everything she felt was fake.
A story where I was supposed to doubt her.
"Daddy?""
I turned quickly.
Kerensa stood at the doorway.
My heart dropped.
"Sweetheart, you shouldn't be out of bed.""
She looked past me.
At the walls.
Her face changed.
Not surprise.
Fear.
"Why are you here?""
I walked toward her.
"Because you told me about this room.""
She immediately shook her head.
"No.""
"No?""
She looked terrified.
"I wasn't supposed to tell.""
I knelt down.
"Kerensa.""
She covered her mouth.
"She's going to know.""
"She already knows.""
Her eyes widened.
"What?""
I showed her the message.
She didn't understand the words completely, but she understood the fear in my face.
"Daddy...""
I pulled her close.
"Listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong.""
"But she said...""
"She was wrong.""
A sound came from behind us.
A slow clap.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
I turned.
Meliora stood in the hallway.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
"Beautiful.""
My arms tightened around Kerensa.
"What are you doing?""
She leaned against the doorframe.
"Having a family meeting, apparently.""
"You were watching us?""
"No.""
"Then why are you here?""
She looked at the room.
Then at Kerensa.
"I heard the door open.""
I stepped between them.
"Why did you write those things?""
Meliora smiled faintly.
Not a happy smile.
A tired one.
The kind people use when they believe they are the only person in the room who understands reality.
"Because someone needed to see the truth.""
I stared at her.
"The truth?""
"Yes.""
She walked into the room.
I didn't like how easily she moved through it.
Like this was her space.
Like she owned these secrets.
"Kerensa has always been difficult.""
My daughter grabbed my hand.
I felt her fingers trembling.
"She's four.""
"And smart.""
"That's your defense?""
Meliora looked at the drawings.
"She knows how to cry at the right moment.""
My face hardened.
"Stop.""
"You think I'm cruel because you saw one afternoon.""
"No. I think you're cruel because you keep proving it.""
She looked at me.
"You don't understand.""
"Then explain.""
For the first time, her expression cracked.
A little.
A small flash of frustration.
"I tried.""
"To do what?""
"To fix her.""
The words hung in the air.
Fix her.
Like my daughter was broken.
"She used to be sweet," Meliora continued.
"She still is.""
"No.""
Her voice sharpened.
"She changed when she realized you would always take her side.""
I looked down at Kerensa.
She looked confused.
A child should never have to listen to adults debate whether she was good or bad.
"Why would she need to compete with you?""
Meliora laughed quietly.
"Because she does.""
"No.""
"Yes.""
"She's a child.""
"And children learn how to control people.""
I felt anger rise again.
But beneath it was something else.
Fear.
Because Meliora truly believed this.
She wasn't pretending.
She had built an entire world in her head where a four-year-old girl was her enemy.
"Did you cut her hair because you thought she was controlling you?""
Meliora didn't answer.
That was the answer.
I looked at the walls again.
"How long?""
She said nothing.
"How long have you been writing these things?""
"I don't remember.""
"Try.""
Her jaw tightened.
"Months.""
Months.
Not days.
Not one bad week.
Months.
I closed my eyes.
I thought about every time Kerensa had been quieter.
Every time she had asked if I was angry.
Every time she had said sorry before anyone accused her.
I thought about all the signs I had missed.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
Meliora looked at me.
"Because you would do exactly what you're doing now.""
"What?""
"Protect her.""
The way she said it made my chest hurt.
As if protecting my daughter was betrayal.
"Yes," I said.
"Of course I would.""
She looked away.
"You never loved me the way you loved her.""
The sentence stunned me.
Not because it was true.
Because it was cruel.
I stepped back.
"Meliora...""
"No.""
She shook her head.
"You don't get to pretend you don't know.""
"Know what?""
"That I was always second.""
I looked at Kerensa.
Then back at her.
"You are comparing yourself to a child.""
Her eyes flashed.
"See?""
"What?""
"You don't even hear how insulting that is.""
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Meliora, this isn't about you.""
"Everything is about me when I am the only one trying to hold this family together.""
I looked around the room.
At the drawings.
At the red words.
At the locked door.
"This is your idea of holding a family together?""
She had no answer.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Kerensa spoke.
Her voice was barely audible.
"Meliora?""
My wife looked at her.
"What?""
The harshness in that single word made Kerensa flinch.
I noticed.
Meliora noticed too.
But she didn't apologize.
Kerensa swallowed.
"Did you really think my pictures were bad?""
Something changed in Meliora's face.
Just slightly.
Like a crack appearing in a wall.
Then she said:
"I think you know why.""
Kerensa's eyes filled with tears.
I immediately pulled her closer.
"That's enough.""
Meliora looked at me.
"What are you going to do?""
The question wasn't emotional.
It was challenging.
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know yet.
A part of me wanted to pack bags.
A part of me wanted to call someone.
A part of me wanted to demand every truth she had hidden.
But another part of me was terrified.
Because this wasn't just a marriage falling apart.
This was my daughter's life.
I needed to be careful.
I needed proof.
I needed to know how deep this went.
Meliora stepped closer.
"You think I'm the villain.""
I looked at her.
"I think my daughter is afraid of you.""
Her face went still.
Then she whispered:
"Ask her what happened before you came home.""
My eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?""
Meliora looked at Kerensa.
"Ask her why she really cut her hair.""
Kerensa immediately shook her head.
"No.""
The reaction was instant.
Pure fear.
I turned toward my daughter.
"Sweetheart?""
She grabbed my hand.
"Daddy, I didn't...""
Meliora smiled.
Not kindly.
Almost like she had been waiting for this.
"Tell him.""
Kerensa started crying.
"Tell him what you did.""
I looked between them.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Because Meliora wasn't defending herself anymore.
She was trying to make Kerensa defend herself.
And whatever had happened before I walked through that door...
My daughter was terrified of saying it out loud.
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message.
From the same unknown number.
I opened it.
Only four words appeared.
*"Don't believe Meliora. Check the camera.""*
My blood ran cold.
Because I suddenly remembered.
The old security camera in the hallway.
The one Meliora told me stopped working months ago.
I looked at her.
She looked back.
May you like
And for the first time...
She looked afraid.
