CHAPTER 4: HEALING THE BROKEN
Days passed.
The mansion felt different.
Quieter.
Warmer.
But healing wasn’t immediate.
The girl still woke up in the middle of the night, trembling.
Still hesitated before speaking.
Still flinched at sudden movements.
So her father did something no one expected.
He canceled meetings.
Postponed deals.
Ignored the empire waiting for him.
And stayed.
He sat beside her during meals.
Walked with her in the garden.
Read to her like he used to when she was small.
“You don’t have to earn your place here,” he told her one evening. “You already belong.”
Tears filled her eyes again.
But this time—
May you like
They weren’t from pain.
Slowly, piece by piece, the girl began to smile again.
