Chapter 3 - The Stranger Who Protected Her
I called my Aunt Paula in Miami before I called my mother.
Paula was my father’s younger sister, and the only adult in my family who ever made me feel calmer instead of smaller.
She answered on the first ring.
“Dana?”
“I need you to go get Ella.”
She did not ask why first.
She only said, “Send me the address.”
By the time I called my mother, Paula was already driving.
Mom answered cheerful, like nothing had happened.
“Dana, honey. Don’t panic. Everything’s fine.”
Fine.
“You left my daughter on Preston’s doorstep.”
Silence.
Then, “Not a doorstep. Her father’s apartment.”
“A woman answered the door. Not him.”
Another silence.
This one was worse.
Because it told me they knew.
Then Briana’s voice cut in, sharp and smug.
“You kept her from him long enough. She needs her real father.”
“She is seven.”
“She was safe.”
“She was crying in front of a stranger’s apartment.”
“We were helping her,” Briana snapped.
Helping.
That was what they called abandoning my little girl while they took the other children to the beach.
I heard my mother exhale like I was the difficult one.
“You always turn everything into drama.”
I looked at the cracked coffee mug in my sink.
“No,” I said. “You turned my child into an errand.”
Then I hung up.
Within an hour, my husband Steven and I had booked the earliest flight.
May you like
He did not ask if he should come.
He only said, “You’re not doing this alone.”
