"Why would Ethan tell me she died?" The question lingered quietly between them, carrying years of grief, confusion, and unanswered sorrow.
She slowly shook her head, almost as though arguing with herself rather than with Kade.
"He was there... He stayed beside me. He told me our daughter didn't survive." Her breathing hitched as another tear escaped and rolled silently down her cheek.
"He comforted me. He cried with me." Her eyes drifted back toward Takoda, lingering on the little girl's innocent face. "I spent years believing she was gone..." Her voice broke beneath the weight of those memories. "Why would he lie to me?"
Silence settled heavily over the bathroom. Even Takoda had fallen unusually quiet, her bright little eyes moving uncertainly between the two adults as she sensed the sadness hanging in the air without truly understanding it.
Kade never looked away from Dakota. He gave her enough time to breathe before finally drawing a slow, measured breath of his own.
