Chapter 3 - THE DEMAND FOR A SECOND CHANCE
I stood in my small kitchen, listening to the man who had let his stepdaughter slap me across the face, now crying on my sofa because those same women had turned their cruelty on him.
"You slept in your car?" I asked, my voice flat.
"Yes," Carter choked out, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. "I haven't had a warm meal in days, Zoe. I tried calling my old friends from work, but Maria called them first, spreading lies that I was abusive. Nobody will take my calls."
He reached out toward me, his voice pitching higher with desperation. "I remembered how you always kept things organized. I thought... maybe I could stay here on your couch for a few weeks? Just until I get a lawyer and sort out the bank accounts?"
A sudden, sharp anger flared in my chest.
"Stay here?" I asked, stepping toward the living room area. "Dad, this is a studio apartment. There is one bed. And more importantly, you haven't spoken to me in a year. You didn't call me on my birthday. You didn't check if I was alive when I left Austin."
Carter flinched as if I had struck him. "I... I was angry that you walked out! You made a scene!"
"I made a scene?!" My voice rose, cutting through the small room like a blade. "Hazel slapped me! She physically assaulted me in front of you! And your exact words were, 'Why do you always have to be so difficult?'"
"I was trying to keep the peace!" he yelled back, his old defensiveness flaring up before he quickly caught himself. He softened his tone, looking desperate. "Look, I know I was wrong, okay? I was blind, Zoe! Maria manipulated me! She fed me lies about you every single day!"
"And you believed her because it was easier than defending your own child," I said coldly.
He dropped his head into his hands again, weeping quietly. "Please, Zoe. Don't leave me out in the cold. I am your father. We are blood. Family supports each other when everything falls apart."
Hearing him use the word family sent a chill through me.
I looked around my apartment. I had worked eighty hours a week to build this peace. I had bled for this quiet life. Bringing his chaos into my safe space felt dangerous.
Yet, as I looked at his frail, defeated posture, I saw the ghost of the man who used to carry me on his shoulders when my mother was alive. The pain of loving someone who failed you is a heavy burden.
"You can stay for three nights," I said quietly. "Only three nights, Dad. You sleep on the couch. You buy your own groceries with whatever cash you have left, and you spend every waking hour looking for legal assistance. On Tuesday morning, you leave."
May you like
Carter looked up, his face light with overwhelming relief. "Thank you, Zoe. Thank you... I swear, I'll make this up to you. I'll prove to you that I'm sorry."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," I replied, walking toward my closet to grab an extra blanket. "Rest up. Tomorrow, we start looking at what Maria actually did to your assets."
