Chapter 3: A Father's Promise
Chapter 3: A Father's Promise
Within twenty minutes, the mansion was no longer quiet.
Daniel had called his family attorney.
Then his security director.
Then the police.
Vanessa's confidence vanished.
"You can't be serious!"
"I live here!"
Daniel looked at her without emotion.
"No."
"You lived here."
She laughed nervously.
"You have no proof."
"I don't need guesses."
"I have evidence."
She froze.
Daniel picked up his phone.
"I installed new security cameras throughout the house three weeks ago after several valuables disappeared."
He pressed play.
One recording after another filled the living room.
Vanessa screaming.
Vanessa forcing Emily to scrub floors.
Vanessa yanking the little girl's arm.
Vanessa throwing away the lunch prepared for her.
Vanessa whispering,
"If you tell your father, no one will ever love you."
Emily's quiet sobs echoed through the speakers.
Even the police officers exchanged uneasy glances.
Vanessa's face turned ghostly pale.
"I... I can explain."
"No," Daniel replied.
"You've talked enough."
Minutes later, she was escorted out of the mansion.
Not once did Daniel look back.
Instead, he walked upstairs.
Emily sat curled up on the couch inside his office, hugging a stuffed rabbit her late mother had given her years ago.
She looked up nervously.
"Is she angry?"
Daniel knelt beside her.
"No, sweetheart."
"She can't hurt you anymore."
Emily searched his face.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"I promise."
For the first time in months...
Emily smiled.
It was small.
Fragile.
But real.
May you like
Daniel hugged her tightly as both of them cried for everything they had lost.
And for everything they still had time to save.
