Chapter 2 - “Grandma Said You’d Lose Me”
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Daniel carried Lily inside.
He locked the patio door behind them.
Diane pounded against the glass.
“Daniel!”
He ignored her.
“Open this door!”
He kept moving.
Lily’s small arms stayed wrapped around his neck.
Daniel brought her into the living room and sat beside her on the couch.
“Look at me.”
She wouldn’t.
“Lily.”
Slowly, she lifted her face.
Daniel struggled to keep his voice steady.
“How many times has Grandma put you in that kennel?”
Lily’s eyes filled again.
“I don’t know.”
“Five?”
Silence.
“Ten?”
Her lower lip trembled.
“I stopped counting.”
Daniel felt something inside him break.
He had trusted Diane.
After his wife Claire died two years earlier, Diane had become almost indispensable.
She picked Lily up from school.
Helped with meals.
Stayed with her when Daniel worked late.
When a pipe burst in Daniel’s house three months ago, Diane invited them to stay at her place during repairs.
Daniel thought his mother was helping them survive a difficult season.
Instead—
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lily immediately recoiled.
That reaction hurt him.
Not because she was afraid of him.
Because she was afraid of the question.
“Grandma said I couldn’t.”
“What did she say?”
Lily stared at the floor.
“She said if I told you, they’d take me away.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Who?”
“The people.”
“What people?”
“I don’t know.”
She wiped her face.
“She said you already lost Mommy. And if I made trouble, you’d lose me too.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
For one dangerous second, rage filled everything.
Then he forced it down.
Lily needed a father.
Not an explosion.
His phone was still in his pocket.
He called 911.
Then he called his attorney.
Then, before doing anything else, he crouched in front of his daughter.
“You listen to me.”
Lily looked at him.
“You did nothing wrong.”
Her eyes filled.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“But Grandma said—”
“Grandma lied.”
Lily’s face crumpled.
Daniel pulled her into his arms.
Outside, Diane had stopped pounding on the door.
That worried him.
He walked toward the window.
She was standing in the yard.
Talking on another phone.
Daniel didn’t know she had a second one.
Ten minutes later, a patrol car entered the driveway.
Then another vehicle appeared behind it.
A black SUV.
Diane smiled when she saw it.
A woman in a gray suit stepped out.
She carried a leather folder.
Daniel’s attorney arrived seconds later.
He saw the woman.
His expression immediately changed.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“That’s a family-court process server.”
The woman walked toward the house.
Then handed Daniel an envelope.
He opened it.
EMERGENCY PETITION FOR TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP OF LILY PARKER.
Petitioner:
Diane Parker.
Daniel stared at the filing date.
It had been submitted that morning.
Before the kennel.
Before Daniel came home.
Before Diane supposedly had any reason to believe she needed emergency custody.
May you like
👉 Diane hadn’t reacted to Daniel catching her—she had gone into that backyard already planning to take Lily away from him.
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