Chapter 6
"Forgiveness isn't something you earn with a few tears on a patio, Daniel," Clara answered, her voice cutting through the damp night air. "You watched your own daughter chained to a pillar while your mother treated her like a stray animal."
"I didn't know! Mother told me she was sent away to a boarding school in Europe!" Daniel pleaded, dropping to his knees. "You chose not to know because looking the other way was easier than standing up to your mother's toxic tyranny," Clara retorted sharply.
She bent down, unbuckling the heavy metal chain from Lily’s small ankle with steady, practiced hands. Lily lifted her head, looking up at her mother with big, trusting brown eyes, her tiny hands clutching the navy blue dress.
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"Are we going home now, Mommy?" Lily whispered softly, her voice carrying a heartbreaking innocence that brought tears to Clara's eyes. "Yes, my brave little girl... we are going home, and nobody will ever make you afraid again," Clara promised, sweeping her into her arms.
She walked past Daniel without sparing him another glance, heading down the illuminated pathway toward the waiting federal vehicles. Daniel remained kneeling on the cold wooden deck, staring at the empty space where his family had just walked away.
