She turned.
“Mom?”
I couldn’t move.
“Are you mad at me?” she whispered.
“No, baby. Never.”
“Daddy said you needed time.”
“I never needed time. I needed you.”
That was when she ran.
I caught her.
“I looked for you every day,” I whispered.
“I asked for you,” she cried. “Daddy said not yet.”
“Because grown-ups can make terrible choices when they’re afraid. But that doesn’t make it okay.”
She pulled back slightly.
“Do I have to see him?”
“Not until you want to. And not alone.”
Later, Mark came in under supervision.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“You made Mom disappear too,” Sophie said quietly.
That was the moment the court case began.
And the beginning of accountability.
Months passed.
Therapy. Supervised visits. Investigations.
A judge finally said:
“Love does not excuse deception.”
Sophie came home slowly.
Afternoons first. Then weekends. Then forever.
One night she came into my room.
“Can I sleep with you?”
“Yes,” I said immediately.
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