AFTER THEY LAUGH.
My breath stopped somewhere behind my ribs.
“Stay quiet for your daughter’s sake.”
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I pulled the photos out just far enough to see the one on top, and my stomach dropped. It was Rosie, crying in a bathroom stall with her knees pulled up to her chest.
The next one. Rosie in the hallway, clutching a jacket that had been ripped down the seam.
My hands started to shake so badly that the photos rattled against the envelope.
The voice was right beside my ear.
Steven’s hand closed around my wrist, firm enough to stop me, gentle enough that no one else saw.
His smile was gone. His eyes were something I didn’t recognize.
“Stay quiet for your daughter’s sake,” he whispered. “Please. You’ll understand in a minute.”
Steven didn’t flinch.
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I stared up at him, at the boy who had just bowed to my child and the one I had hoped would not be the one to break her heart.
