Chapter 5: The Man Inside the Office
I stared at him.
“Who?”
Principal Harris swallowed.
“He wouldn’t give his name at first. He said you might know him.”
A cold unease moved through me.
“Know him from where?”
He only shook his head.
“I think you should come in.”
I pushed the door open.
My legs felt like lead.
Emma sat in the corner chair, her small hands folded in her lap. She looked calm, almost confused by the tension around her.
Beside the principal’s desk stood a man holding a shoebox.
New sneakers.
Bright white.
Still in the box.
When he turned toward me, the world seemed to tilt.
I knew that face.
Older now.
Thinner.
Marked by exhaustion and shame.
But I knew him.
“Marcus?” I whispered.
His eyes filled immediately.
“Hello, Rachel.”
And suddenly, the past was standing in my daughter’s school office.
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