The girl’s voice was barely audible.

“She told me Daddy wouldn’t love me unless I looked sick.”

The man stopped breathing.

Behind him, the woman went completely still.

His daughter’s fingers tightened around his.

“She shaved my head.”

His eyes filled instantly.

“No…”

“She told me to stay quiet.”

The woman shook her head desperately.

“She’s confused. She doesn’t understand—”

The girl flinched at the sound of her voice.

That tiny movement told him everything.

The man turned slowly toward his fiancée.

His face had changed.

Not anger.

Something colder.

“You made my daughter afraid to tell me the truth?”

The woman opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

The girl suddenly grabbed her father’s sleeve.

“Daddy…”

He turned back.

Tears were running down her cheeks now.

“There’s something else.”

His hand began to shake.

“What?”

She looked toward the woman.

Then back at him.

“She said if I told you… you’d find out what she did to Mom.”