My voice softened.
“I’m not saying no. I’m asking you to let me catch up.”
She studied me.
“One night?”
“One.”
She nodded.
Then she gathered the letters and went upstairs.
The moment she disappeared, Dad moved toward me.
“Olivia…”
“Not yet.”
He stopped.
I looked at the man I had trusted with almost every painful part of my life.
“Thirteen years.”
His face tightened.
“You stood beside me while Lily asked why her father never called.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You were protecting a version of my life you thought would hurt less.”
“I watched you almost collapse after Emily.”
“That still didn’t make the choice yours.”
He looked down.
I hardly slept.
By morning, only one question mattered.
When Dad came downstairs, I was waiting.
“When did you see Carl?”
He froze.
That was answer enough.
“Dad.”
“About ten months after he left.”
I stood.
“He came back?”
“He came to me.”
“To see Lily?”
“You. Both of you.”
“And?”
Dad’s eyes filled.
“I told him to leave.”
For a second, I heard nothing.
Then anger flooded through me so fast I had to grip the kitchen counter.
“You stopped him?”
“Yes.”
