It was Daisy, Gabriel’s six-year-old daughter.
Penelope had fully believed Daisy was safe at elementary school because Gabriel had insisted the girl was far too sensitive for anything connected to a court hearing. He had repeatedly argued that young children should never be anywhere near adult conflict and promised she was miles away. Yet here she stood, red-cheeked, tear-bright, and small enough to make the tall courtroom feel enormous around her as she looked at her father with the specific expression of a child who had been keeping a dangerous secret for too long and had finally decided to stop.
Judge Barrett softened her voice in the delicate manner of someone who understood that the next several minutes would forever shape what this child believed about whether adults could ever be trusted. “Daisy, sweetheart, you are not in any trouble at all, do you understand me?”
Daisy gave a small nod while her tiny fingers twisted nervously around the rabbit’s worn fabric ear.
