The most painful truth was not that she had come.
It was that she had seen everything and still chosen herself.
But the footage revealed something else too.
Sadie had resisted her.
Carmen had believed Sadie’s no.
Matthew had stood beside me without asking me to keep the peace.
And when my daughter told me what happened, I had believed her immediately.
That was the family Eliza came home to.
Not a perfect one.
A safe one.
As the candle smoke curled above the cupcake, Sadie touched Eliza’s tiny hand.
Eliza’s fingers closed around one of hers.
Sadie looked at me with wonder.
“She knows we’re here.”
This time, I did not have to force the answer.
“Yes,” I said.
“She does.”
