The next chapter brings new revelations.../ Chapter 1 / 13

CHAPTER 1 — THE WORDS THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

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"Mommy... I don't want to take a bath anymore." My daughter started saying it every night after my second marriage. At first, it seemed harmless. Normal. Something parents hear all the time. But it wasn't.

"Mommy... I don't want to take a bath anymore."

The first time Lily said it, her voice was so small I could barely hear it, drowned out by the running water and the clatter of dishes in the sink.

She was six years old. Usually chatty. Usually stubborn, as children often are. A little girl who loved bubble baths, played with toy boats, and wrapped herself in a towel like a queen after drying her hair.

So when she stood in the bathroom doorway that Tuesday evening, her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes fixed on the floor, I couldn't help but smile.

"You still have to take a bath, honey."

She didn't protest.

She simply started crying.

Not to complain. Not to pout.

She was crying so hard she couldn't take it anymore, as if the water had hurt her.

I turned off the faucet and knelt before her.

"Hey," I said softly. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head violently, her ponytail swishing back and forth.

"Please... don't make me do this."

I should have known right then.

But I didn't.

My life had become a constant balancing act, and tiredness makes you lose sight of the most important warning signs.