Chapter 4 - A Father's ReturnThe mansion gates opened shortly after midnight.

Daniel drove through without slowing.

The house rose beyond a circular fountain, its windows glowing against the dark Georgia sky.

It was the home he had purchased for Amara twelve years earlier.

For the first time, he dreaded entering it.

Vanessa waited in the foyer.

She had changed into a silk robe and arranged her hair carefully.

"Daniel, darling."

He walked past her.

"Where's Naomi?"

"Sleeping."

"Where?"

"In her room."

"Grace?"

"She's no longer employed here."

Daniel stopped.

"You fired the person who called me about my daughter?"

"She was spreading lies."

"Where is she?"

Vanessa folded her arms.

"Your entire staff thinks they can dictate how I run this household."

Daniel took out his phone.

He called Grace.

She answered immediately.

"We're upstairs, sir."

"We?"

"Naomi and me."

Daniel climbed the staircase two steps at a time.

Grace opened the bedroom door.

Inside, Naomi sat beneath a pink blanket, holding a stuffed rabbit with one missing ear.

She stared at him.

He approached slowly.

"Hi, baby."

Naomi did not move.

Daniel had imagined she would run into his arms.

Instead, she looked toward Grace.

"Is he really here?"

Grace nodded.

"He's here."

Daniel knelt beside the bed.

"I'm sorry I took so long."

Naomi studied his face.

"Did Vanessa tell you I was bad?"

His eyes filled.

"No."

"Because I tried to be good."

"I know."

"I cleaned the playroom. I folded my clothes. I didn't touch the piano."

Daniel looked up.

"The piano?"

"Vanessa says Mama's piano isn't mine."

The piano had belonged to Amara.

Daniel remembered her playing hymns on Sunday evenings while Naomi slept against her shoulder.

"Nobody should have told you that."

Naomi hugged her rabbit tighter.

"Are you going away again?"

Daniel swallowed.

"No, sweetheart. Not tonight."

She looked uncertain.

He didn't reach for her.

Instead, he sat on the floor beside the bed.

After several minutes, Naomi slid down and cautiously leaned against him.

Only then did he put his arms around her.

She began crying.

It was not the loud cry of a child seeking attention.

It was the exhausted, breathless crying of someone who had finally reached a place where she could stop pretending.

Grace quietly left the room.

Downstairs, Vanessa waited in Daniel's study.

When he entered, she rose.

"Now that you've comforted your daughter, can we discuss what actually happened?"

Daniel closed the door.

"Sit down."

Vanessa frowned.

"Don't speak to me like—"

"Sit."

She sat.

Daniel placed the folded statement Grace had given him on the desk.

"Explain this."

Vanessa glanced at the paper.

"It's part of Naomi's behavioral treatment."

"What treatment?"

"Julian recommended a professional evaluation."

"Julian Vale is a corporate attorney."

"He's helping the family."

"He's not this child's doctor."

Vanessa stared at him.

Daniel leaned forward.

"And while we're discussing documents, why have you been signing my name?"

For the first time that evening, Vanessa failed to answer immediately.

Then she smiled.

"Oh, Daniel."

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She reached into her handbag and removed a thin blue folder.

"I was wondering when you'd finally ask."