Chapter 6: The Plan to Take My Daughter
I read the sentence again.
Then again.
My mind refused to accept it.
The paper shook between my fingers.
“If Darius ever finds out, take Ava and disappear.””
My wife’s handwriting.
My wife’s words.
A plan.
A backup plan.
A future where I woke up one morning and my daughter was gone.
I looked at Simone.
“Is this real?””
She didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I folded the paper slowly.
“Answer me.””
Her tears fell faster.
“I was scared.””
I stared at her.
“Scared of what?””
“Losing everything.””
I looked around the mansion.
The expensive furniture.
The perfect rooms.
The life we built.
“You mean losing the life you created from a lie.””
She flinched.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Darius, you need to be careful.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because Simone knows she’s out of options.””
Simone looked at him.
“You’re trying to destroy me.””
Marcus shook his head.
“No. I’m trying to stop you from destroying Ava.””
That name changed the room.
Ava.
Everything came back to her.
Not Simone.
Not Marcus.
Not Maria.
My daughter.
I walked upstairs.
I needed to see her.
I needed to remind myself that no matter what happened, she was still the little girl who ran into my arms every morning.
I opened her bedroom door.
She was sitting on the floor with Maria.
Her teddy bear was beside her.
When she saw me, she smiled.
“Daddy.””
That smile almost broke me.
I knelt beside her.
“Hey, sweetheart.””
She touched my face.
“Why are you sad?””
I forced a smile.
“Sometimes grown-ups have hard days.””
She studied me.
“You’re crying.””
I didn’t realize I was.
I wiped my cheek quickly.
“I’m okay.””
Ava hugged me.
“You always say I’m safe.””
My chest tightened.
Because suddenly I wondered.
Had I been protecting her from the world?
Or had the world been protecting me from the truth?
Maria watched quietly.
Later, after Ava fell asleep, I returned downstairs.
Simone was still there.
But something had changed.
She wasn’t pretending anymore.
“I never wanted to hurt you.””
I stood across from her.
“But you did.””
“I loved her.””
“I know.””
She looked surprised.
I continued.
“That’s what makes this worse.””
She looked down.
“I loved her like she was my own.””
I swallowed.
“You raised her as my daughter while knowing she wasn’t yours.””
A tear rolled down her face.
“I didn’t know how to fix it.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You knew exactly how to fix it.””
She looked at me.
“You just didn’t want to.””
The silence between us was painful.
Then Maria walked into the room holding something.
A small folder.
“Darius.””
I looked at it.
“What is that?””
She hesitated.
“Proof.””
Simone immediately reacted.
“No.””
Maria opened the folder.
Inside were documents.
Hospital records.
Names.
Dates.
Signatures.
My heart raced.
“You kept these?””
Maria nodded.
“I thought one day you would need them.””
Simone stepped forward.
“You promised.””
Maria looked at her.
“I promised to protect Ava.””
The words hung in the air.
I opened the first document.
My eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
There was a name.
A name I had never seen before.
The original birth mother.
My hands went cold.
“Who is this?””
Maria looked at me.
“She’s the person Simone was afraid would come back.””
I looked at the paper again.
A woman’s name.
A woman connected to Ava.
A woman who had been searching.
Before I could ask another question, my phone rang.
The screen showed an unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
Nobody spoke.
I answered.
“Hello?””
For a moment, there was only breathing.
Then a woman’s voice.
Soft.
Broken.
“Is this Darius?””
I stood completely still.
“Yes.””
A pause.
Then:
“My name is Elena.””
My grip tightened around the phone.
The woman continued.
“I think you’re raising my daughter.””
I looked toward the stairs.
Toward Ava’s room.
May you like
And then Elena said the words that made my entire world collapse again.
“Simone was never supposed to take her home.””
