Chapter 6: The Girl Nobody Talked About
I didn’t sleep that night.
Not because I was afraid.
Because my mind wouldn’t stop.
Another child.
Another story.
Another person Brenda had pushed away.
The next morning, I called Karen again.
She answered immediately.
“I was wondering if you would call.””
“Tell me everything.””
She sighed.
“Her name was Olivia.””
I sat at the kitchen table.
“Who was she?””
“Brenda’s stepdaughter.””
I looked toward the hallway.
“Nobody ever mentioned her.””
“That’s the point.””
Karen explained that Olivia had been sixteen when Brenda entered her life.
At first, everything seemed normal.
Brenda acted caring.
Supportive.
Almost too perfect.
But slowly, things changed.
“She started creating rules,” Karen said.
“Rules?””
“Yes. Who Olivia could spend time with. What she could wear.
What she could eat. Everything.””
My stomach tightened.
“Did anyone notice?””
“People noticed.””
“Then why didn’t anyone help?””
Karen paused.
“Because Brenda was good at making Olivia look like the problem.””
I closed my eyes.
The same pattern.
The same story.
A child becomes the difficult one.
The ungrateful one.
The emotional one.
“What happened to Olivia?””
“She left home at eighteen.””
“Does Brenda know where she is?””
“I don’t know.””
I looked at the stairs.
At my daughters’ rooms.
I thought about Nia.
A child who had stayed silent because she was afraid of becoming a burden.
I thanked Karen and ended the call.
That afternoon, I sat with Nia.
“There’s something I want to ask you.””
She looked up.
“Okay.””
“Did Brenda ever talk about someone named Olivia?””
Her face changed immediately.
That surprised me.
“You know about her?””
My heart skipped.
“You do?””
Nia nodded slowly.
“She mentioned her once.””
“What did she say?””
Nia looked uncomfortable.
“She said Olivia was selfish.””
I leaned forward.
“When did she say that?””
“After I asked why she treated me differently.””
I felt anger rising.
“What else?””
Nia looked down.
“She said, ‘I’ve dealt with girls like you before.’”
The room went quiet.
Girls like you.
That sentence explained everything.
Brenda wasn’t seeing my daughter.
She was seeing someone from her past.
Someone she had already decided was a problem.
That evening, I searched through the remaining items from Brenda’s box.
Buried underneath the letters was a photograph.
A teenage girl.
Smiling.
Standing beside Brenda.
On the back was a date.
And one sentence.
“Last family picture.””
I stared at it.
Then I noticed something else.
A small address written underneath.
I didn’t know why.
But something told me I needed to find her.
Before Brenda could erase another story.
The next morning, I drove to that address.
It was an apartment building across town.
I knocked.
A woman opened the door.
She looked older than the girl in the photograph.
But I knew immediately.
“Olivia?””
Her face changed.
“Yes?””
I held up the photograph.
Her eyes widened.
“Where did you get that?””
I took a breath.
“I’m Daniel.””
She stared at me.
“Daniel who?””
I swallowed.
“I’m the father of Brenda’s stepdaughter.””
Her expression changed.
Not confusion.
Fear.
“She has another daughter now?””
I nodded.
“My daughter’s name is Nia.””
Olivia went completely still.
Then she whispered:
“She’s doing it again.””
My chest tightened.
“What do you mean?””
Olivia looked toward the hallway.
Then back at me.
“Because Brenda always follows the same pattern.””
“What pattern?””
She opened the door wider.
And the first thing I saw inside her apartment…
was a wall covered with documents, photographs, and notes about Brenda’s past.
Olivia looked at me.
“You need to understand something.””
I stepped inside.
“What?””
Her voice shook.
“Brenda doesn’t just hurt people.””
“She collects control over them.””
Then she pointed at one photograph on the wall.
A photograph of Brenda.
And standing beside her…
May you like
was someone I recognized.
Someone from my own family.
