Chapter 3 - The Drive Home
We walked out of the house.
I didn't grab my coat.
I didn't say goodbye.
I only held Ava’s hand until we reached our car.
In the backseat, Ava was crying softly.
Daniel didn't start the engine immediately.
Instead, he unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the back, sitting right next to her.
Ava looked down at her lap.
“Is it true?” she whispered. “Are you not my real dad?”
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
He gently tilted her chin up so she had to look at him.
“Ava, listen to me,” he said. “Before you were even born, I wanted you.”
He wiped a tear from her bruised cheek.
“I picked out your crib. I painted your room. I held your mother's hand when you took your first breath, and I was the first person to ever hold you.”
Ava sniffled.
“Biology just means how you were made,” Daniel said firmly. “But I am your father. I have always been your father. And no one will ever change that.”
Ava threw her arms around his neck.
She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed.
Daniel held her tightly, looking at me through the rearview mirror.
We were a family.
May you like
But Sandra wasn't finished.
Wolves like her never stopped until their teeth were broken.
