Chapter 13
The capos left after one in the morning.
None offered Ryan support.
That mattered more than any speech James could have given.
Samuel Trent stopped at the doorway and looked back at Emily.
“You should know something.”
She waited.
“Ryan told several of us that you were unstable during pregnancy.”
Ryan immediately stood.
Samuel ignored him.
“He said James was interfering because he couldn’t accept losing control of his daughter. He presented himself as the only reason this house stayed calm.”
Emily looked at Ryan.
Another reversal.
Every bruise could be called emotion.
Every attempt to leave could be called instability.
Every request for James could be called interference.
They had built explanations before they created the evidence.
Samuel continued.
“I believed some of it.”
James looked at him.
Samuel did not hide.
“I was wrong.”
Emily nodded.
No absolution.
No anger.
Just receipt.
After the men left, James finally entered the hidden room alone.
He found one last package beneath the bed.
Pink paper.
His handwriting.
For Emily. Open when the baby comes.
He had forgotten sending it.
Inside was a small teddy-bear blanket and a card.
James read only the first line before stopping.
Your mother would have known what to say better than I do.
Emily stood behind him.
He turned.
She held out her hand.
He gave her the card unopened.
That mattered.
Months earlier he would have read it aloud, explaining his own intention.
Now he let it belong to her.
Emily read silently.
Her eyes filled.
Then she smiled faintly.
“You wrote that I could come home.”
James nodded.
“I meant it.”
She looked around the hidden room.
“So many times.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Emily folded the card carefully.
“I wish I knew.”
James looked at his daughter.
“So do I.”
May you like
But regret could not become another form of control.
The only useful thing left was making sure the next door she opened was hers to choose.
