Chapter 6
That should have been the moment everything changed.
It should have pushed me into action.
But betrayal doesn’t usually arrive in a way your heart is ready to accept.
When the first crack appears, your mind desperately searches for a way to protect the life you’ve built.
I wanted an explanation.
I wanted to believe there had been a misunderstanding.
More than anything, I wanted sleep.
The next morning Daniel kissed my forehead, handed me a cup of coffee, apologized for raising his voice, and blamed the stress we were both carrying.“Max is just adjusting,” he told me. “He’ll come around.”
Then he looked directly into my eyes.
“You know I’d never do anything to hurt this family.”
Looking back, I realize families like mine weren’t held together by truth.
They survived on reassuring words.
For the next two days, I forced myself to behave as though nothing had happened.
Max still refused to step inside the nursery.
Whenever I asked him to hand me a diaper while I changed the baby, he quietly walked away.
If relatives smiled and asked, “Don’t you love your baby sister?” he simply lowered his eyes without answering.
On the third night, I woke suddenly at exactly 2:14 a.m.
Daniel wasn’t beside me.
The baby wasn’t crying.
His phone was gone from the charger.
I slipped out of bed and followed a thin strip of light shining from beneath the office door downstairs.
The moment I pushed the door open, Daniel jumped so violently he nearly dropped his phone.
“Who are you talking to?” I asked.
May you like
He immediately stood.
“Jeez, Hannah.”
