Chapter 12: The Visitor at Midnight
That night, nobody slept.
Not me.
Not Daniel.
Not even Margaret.
We sat in the living room, surrounded by papers and questions.
Ava slept upstairs.
I checked on her every twenty minutes.
Every time I saw her breathing peacefully, I reminded myself of one thing.
She was not a symbol.
She was not a family legacy.
She was my daughter.
Daniel sat across from me.
“I should have told you.””
“Yes.””
No excuses.
No comfort.
Just the truth.
“I was scared.””
I looked at him.
“I know.””
That surprised him.
“But being scared doesn’t excuse what you did.””
He nodded.
“I know.””
Margaret sat quietly in the corner.
A woman who had spent years acting powerful suddenly looked small.
“Why did you really come here tonight?”” I asked her.
She looked at her hands.
“Because someone else found out.””
Daniel immediately looked up.
“Who?””
Margaret hesitated.
Then said:
“Your father.””
The room went silent.
“He’s alive,” Daniel whispered.
Margaret nodded.
“I saw him two weeks ago.””
I stood.
“You knew?””
“I was trying to handle it.””
I stared at her.
“You don’t handle things by attacking my child.””
Her eyes filled slightly.
“I know.””
That was the first apology I had ever heard from her.
And somehow, it hurt more.
Because it came too late.
Then the lights went out.
Every single one.
The house fell into darkness.
Ava screamed upstairs.
I ran.
Daniel followed.
When we reached her room, she was standing on her bed, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
“Mommy!””
I grabbed her.
“What happened?””
She pointed toward the window.
“There was someone outside.””
My blood froze.
Daniel moved toward the curtain.
“Stay back.””
He slowly pulled it open.
Nobody was there.
But something was sitting on the windowsill.
An envelope.
Daniel picked it up.
My hands tightened around Ava.
“Don’t open it.””
But Daniel already had.
Inside was a single photograph.
A photograph of Ava.
Sleeping.
Taken inside our house.
My entire body went numb.
Someone had been here.
Someone had been close enough to watch her sleep.
On the back of the photo was a handwritten message.
Daniel read it.
Then his face changed.
“What does it say?””
He looked at me.
His voice barely came out.
“It says…”
He swallowed.
“Your daughter belongs to the family that created her.””
I held Ava tighter.
Then I saw something else.
A signature at the bottom.
A name I had never seen before.
Daniel stared at it.
May you like
And whispered:
“My father.””
