Chapter 9: Meeting Rose

My first instinct was to ask, “How could you do this to me?” but Liam’s quiet warning pulled me back before I became the woman they feared… Continue Reading ⬇️

So I stepped back.

“No,” I said. “That was the wrong question.”

Livia stared at me.

I forced myself to breathe.

“What did I do that made leaving feel safer than telling me the truth?”

Her mouth trembled. “You made everything a test. My grades. My clothes. My friends. Mitchell. Even my tone.”

I looked at Rose, then at Mitchell, then at Natalie, then at Liam.

“I was wrong,” I said. “I made you believe you had to disappear to be loved safely.”

Livia set boundaries before she let me closer. Mitchell stayed her husband. Natalie stayed Rose’s grandmother. Liam would not be punished. I would not tell the story like Livia had broken my heart for no reason.

I nodded to all of it.

Then I asked, “May I meet her?”

Livia placed Rose in my arms.

“Hi, Rose,” I whispered. “I’m Camila. Your grandma.” Epilogue: Safe Enough to Find Her ⬇️