Chapter 3
"Grandma?"
For one second, I thought she meant my mother.
Then Vanessa closed her eyes.
And I understood.
"Your mother?"
Vanessa said nothing.
I stared at her.
"Carol has been doing this too?"
"She wasn't doing anything."
I held up the bin lid.
"She wrote this."
"It's a note."
"A note telling people not to feed my daughter."
"Daniel—"
The doorbell rang.
Rachel.
I took Lily inside.
Vanessa followed me.
"Don't say anything to Rachel until we talk."
I turned.
"We are talking."
"No. You're accusing."
I opened the door.
Rachel took one look at Lily's face and froze.
"What happened to her cheek?"
Lily clutched Bunny.
Rachel's expression changed.
She looked at Vanessa.
Then at me.
"Daniel."
"Vanessa hit her."
Rachel walked inside.
Vanessa immediately spoke.
"It wasn't like that."
Rachel didn't even look at her.
She crouched in front of Lily.
"Sweetheart, do you want to come with Aunt Rachel for a little while?"
Lily looked at me.
"Can Daddy come?"
My throat tightened.
"I'll come soon. I need to take care of a few things."
Lily looked nervous.
Rachel took her hand.
"We can get something to eat."
At the word eat, Lily looked toward Vanessa.
Rachel noticed.
"What?"
I said, "She's hungry."
Rachel glanced at the sandwich plate.
"You didn't feed her?"
Vanessa exploded.
"Oh my God, everyone stop acting like she's been locked in a basement."
Rachel stood.
"Why does she have a handprint on her face?"
"Because she kept stealing food after I told her no."
Rachel went still.
"Stealing food?"
"From the pantry."
Rachel looked at me.
I showed her the chart.
Her face drained of color.
"You need to take Lily," I said.
Rachel's eyes filled.
"Absolutely."
Vanessa stepped closer.
"You cannot take her without my permission."
I actually laughed.
"Your permission?"
"I'm her stepmother."
"Exactly."
Rachel picked up Lily.
Vanessa's voice rose.
"Daniel!"
Lily flinched.
Rachel turned instantly.
"Lower your voice."
"This is none of your business."
Rachel looked at the red mark on Lily's face.
"You made it my business."
Vanessa started crying.
Not quiet tears.
Big dramatic sobs.
"I can't believe this. I have taken care of that child every day while Daniel works."
Rachel stared at her.
"And apparently counted every bite she ate."
"She has behavior problems!"
Rachel looked at Lily.
The little girl was hiding against her shoulder.
"Yeah," Rachel said. "She looks terrifying."
"Go to hell."
"Vanessa," I snapped.
Rachel didn't react.
She carried Lily toward the door.
I kissed my daughter's forehead.
"I'll be there soon."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"Are you mad at me?"
That question almost dropped me to my knees.
"No."
"For telling?"
"No, baby."
"Vanessa said you'd be mad if I told."
Silence.
Rachel slowly turned around.
I looked at my wife.
Vanessa went pale.
"I never said that."
Lily whispered, "Yes, you did."
I knelt again.
"What did she tell you?"
Lily looked terrified.
I forced my voice to stay gentle.
"You're safe."
"She said if I told you, you'd send me away because you wanted a new family."
Vanessa gasped.
"That is a lie!"
Lily started crying.
Rachel carried her outside.
I shut the door behind them.
Then I turned.
Vanessa stood in the living room trembling.
"Get out."
"Daniel—"
"Get out of my house."
"You can't do this."
"I can."
"After everything I have done for you?"
I took out my phone.
"I'm calling the police."
That stopped her.
"What?"
"I watched you hit my daughter. I've found evidence you've been withholding food. She's telling me you threatened her."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me."
Vanessa's face twisted.
"You want to ruin my life?"
"I want to protect hers."
She stared at me for a long time.
Then she walked upstairs.
I followed.
She turned.
"Are you seriously watching me pack?"
"Yes."
"Like I'm some criminal?"
I didn't answer.
She stuffed clothes into a suitcase.
Her hands shook.
"This is all because Carol told me I was too soft."
I froze.
"What?"
Vanessa stopped packing.
I stepped closer.
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing."
"You said your mother told you that you were too soft."
She sat on the bed.
For the first time, she looked less angry than scared.
"My mom said Lily was manipulating me."
"Lily is five."
"I know that."
"Apparently you don't."
Vanessa wiped her face.
"After we got married, she kept saying Lily had you wrapped around her finger. That she would always make me the outsider unless I established authority."
"And withholding food was authority?"
"No."
"The chart?"
"Her idea."
I stared.
"Carol made that chart?"
"No. I made it. But she suggested the system."
My stomach twisted.
"How often is your mother here when I'm working?"
Vanessa hesitated.
"Three or four times a week."
I had no idea.
Vanessa's mother lived forty minutes away.
I thought she visited maybe once every couple of weeks.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you don't like her."
"I don't like how she speaks to people."
"Exactly."
"How long has she been disciplining Lily?"
Vanessa looked down.
"Months."
I gripped the dresser.
"What did she do?"
"Nothing crazy."
"What did she do?"
"Timeouts."
"What else?"
"Taking toys."
"What else?"
"Making her finish chores."
"What chores?"
"Cleaning."
"She's five."
"Putting clothes away. Wiping counters."
"What else?"
Vanessa looked at me.
"She'd make her stand in the corner."
"How long?"
"I don't know."
"Vanessa."
"Sometimes an hour."
My legs almost gave out.
"An hour?"
"She needed to learn to listen."
"She's five years old."
"You keep saying that like five-year-olds can't misbehave."
"They can misbehave. They can also be abused."
Vanessa jumped to her feet.
"My mother did not abuse her."
"Did you?"
She slapped a hand over her mouth.
I saw the answer before she gave it.
"I never meant to hurt her."
I felt sick.
"How many times?"
"Today was the first slap."
"That's not what I asked."
She cried harder.
"Sometimes I grabbed her."
"How?"
"Her arm."
"Anything else?"
"Daniel, stop interrogating me."
"Anything else?"
She looked away.
"Once I put her under cold water."
I stared.
"What?"
"She wouldn't stop screaming."
I couldn't speak.
"It was just the shower. Ten seconds."
"She was screaming so you put her under cold water?"
"I panicked."
I backed away from her.
Suddenly the woman standing in front of me looked like a stranger.
"Get your bag."
She grabbed the suitcase.
At the bedroom door, she stopped.
"I love you."
I said nothing.
"I do."
"Did you love Lily?"
She swallowed.
"I tried."
"That's not an answer."
"I wanted us to be a family."
"Then why did my daughter have to sneak into the garage to eat?"
Vanessa started crying again.
"Because I messed up."
I opened the front door.
"Leave."
She dragged her suitcase outside.
Then she turned.
"If you call the police, my life is over."
I looked at her.
"You should have thought about that before you made a five-year-old afraid of bread."
I shut the door.
My hands were shaking so badly I could barely unlock my phone.
I called Rachel.
"How is she?"
"She's eating."
That sentence hurt.
"She asked for two sandwiches."
I closed my eyes.
"Rachel, I need to ask her some questions."
"Not tonight."
"I need to know what happened."
"Daniel, she's exhausted. And she's terrified."
"I'm her father."
"Then be her father, not a detective."
She was right.
I sat on the stairs.
"What do I do?"
Rachel's voice softened.
"You document everything."
I looked at the chart in my hand.
The bin.
The writing.
The empty cracker wrappers.
"I am."
"And you call someone who knows what to do."
I knew what she meant.
Police.
Child protective services.
A lawyer.
People I never imagined needing.
"I'll be there soon."
"Daniel?"
"Yeah?"
"There's something else."
My heart started pounding.
"What?"
"Lily asked me if tonight was a food night."
I couldn't breathe.
Rachel continued quietly.
"She thought she needed permission to eat dinner."
I covered my face.
Then my phone beeped with an incoming message.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then I opened it.
There was a photograph.
Lily.
Standing alone in the corner of my kitchen.
Her hands on her head.
Below the picture was one sentence.
Maybe now you'll understand why Vanessa had to be strict.
I recognized the number.
Carol.
May you like
And beneath that message came another.
If you destroy my daughter's marriage, Daniel, I'll make sure everyone learns what kind of father you really are.
