Daniel nodded.
“What about the house?”
“My parents have a spare key,” I said.
“Not anymore,” Daniel replied.
He had already contacted a locksmith.
Caroline continued.
“I also recommend sending a written notice stating they are not to contact Lily directly. Given what was said to her, especially considering her
history, this is emotional harm. If they continue, we document everything.”
At 9:43, my father finally sent me a message.
“You embarrassed your mother. Call us.”
He did not ask how I was feeling.
He did not ask whether Lily was safe.
He did not admit they had done anything wrong.
I stared at those words until they seemed to lose all meaning.
Then Madison sent a voice recording.
I listened to it once.
Her voice filled the hospital room, sharp and trembling with anger.
“You are destroying this family over a little girl who isn’t even blood. Mom cried all morning. Dad says you’ve become cruel. And when you finally have your own baby, you’ll realize we were protecting you from making a huge mistake.”
Daniel reached over to delete it from my phone, but Caroline stopped him.
“Actually, send that to me first.”
He forwarded it to her.
By noon, Madison had been removed from the family group chat Daniel and I had created years earlier.
My parents were blocked from Lily’s tablet.
Their phone numbers were silenced rather than erased because Caroline wanted a complete record of every attempted contact.
At one o’clock, my mother appeared at the hospital.