Chapter 2: The Bruise
Sawyer was still kneeling in front of Gracie when he heard Caroline’s footsteps coming down the hallway.
She appeared in the doorway holding a bag of pastries, her phone in her other hand. The smile on her face disappeared the second she saw Sawyer and Gracie.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice tight.
Sawyer stood up slowly, keeping himself between Caroline and their daughter.
“I’m taking Gracie to the hospital,” he said.
Caroline dropped the bag onto the dresser.
“Don’t be ridiculous. She fell. I already put some ointment on it.”
Sawyer looked at her steadily.
“Gracie told me what really happened.”
For a split second, Caroline’s face went pale. Then the anger returned, fast and sharp.
“She’s lying,” Caroline snapped. “She knows you’ll take her side every time you come home from a trip. She’s just trying to get attention.”
Gracie buried her face against Sawyer’s side, trembling.
Sawyer’s voice was low and cold.
“Don’t ever call my daughter a liar again.”
Caroline stepped in front of the doorway, blocking their path.
“If you walk out of this house with her right now, don’t bother coming back.”
Sawyer didn’t even hesitate.
He picked Gracie up carefully, grabbed his car keys, and walked straight past Caroline without another word.
As he carried his daughter out to the car, he noticed their neighbor, Mrs. Kennedy, standing behind her fence. The older woman had tears streaming down her face. She looked at Sawyer with an expression full of guilt and fear — as if she had been carrying a terrible secret for a long time.
Sawyer didn’t have time to stop and ask what was wrong.
Right now, his only priority was getting Gracie to the hospital.
He buckled her into the backseat, placed her rabbit on her lap, and drove straight to the emergency room.
The entire way there, Gracie stayed quiet, clutching her stuffed rabbit. Every time the car hit a small bump, she winced in pain.
Sawyer gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.
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While he was away, something terrible had happened to his daughter.
And he was going to find out exactly what.
