Chapter 3 - Healing in the Hearth
I didn't care about the mansion anymore. The massive, cold stone house felt contaminated by Vanessa’s cruelty. That very night, I moved my four daughters to a private, secure luxury cabin I owned on the other side of the mountain—a place Vanessa had never visited, a place that still held the warm, gentle memory of my late wife, Claire.
The cabin’s massive stone fireplace roared with life, filling the wood-beamed living room with a deep, golden warmth. I spent the entire night in the kitchen, cooking a rich, gentle chicken broth, knowing their tiny stomachs couldn't handle heavy food after weeks of starvation.
I brought the bowls to the living room, where the four girls sat huddled together on a massive plush sofa, buried beneath layers of cashmere blankets. They watched me with wide, cautious eyes.
"Daddy?" Lily whispered, her voice trembling as I handed her a small spoon. "Are we allowed to eat all of it?"
I felt a physical pain in my chest. I sat on the edge of the sofa, pulling all four of them into my arms. "You can eat as much as you want, sweetheart. Tonight, tomorrow, every single day for the rest of your lives. Daddy is never going away again."
Emma looked up, her gray eyes swimming with tears. "But Mama Vanessa said you were tired of us. She said we cost too much money, and that's why you went away to the big buildings."
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I squeezed them tighter, letting my own tears fall into their hair. "Mama Vanessa lied to you because she is a bad person. I went away because I thought I was building a castle for you. But I was wrong. The only thing that matters is being inside the castle with you. I am resigning from my company, girls. I am staying right here."
For the first time in six months, Sophie let out a tiny, fragile giggle as she tasted the warm soup. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.
