Chapter 19 - THE SPARE IN THE CLOSET
David didn’t confront her. Not yet. If he accused her without absolute proof, she could take Lily and leave. He needed to know how deep this went.
When Claire left for the grocery store at noon, David went straight to Lily’s bedroom.
The room was a typical teenager’s sanctuary—posters, scattered clothes, a desk covered in biology homework. David opened her closet and pushed past the winter coats to the bottom shelf.
There, sitting in a plastic bin, were Lily’s old braces. The ones she had supposedly “outgrown” over the last three years.
He pulled out the brace from two years ago. He snapped the hinge open and checked the inside track.
Filed down.
He grabbed the brace from last year.
Filed down.
Bile rose in David’s throat. His wife had been doing this for years. She had systematically destroyed her own daughter’s recovery to keep a six-thousand-dollar monthly paycheck, skimming off the top for herself.
He heard the front door open downstairs.
“Dad?” Lily called out. “Are you home? The school nurse sent me back early. My knee gave out during assembly.”
David shoved the old braces back into the bin. He hurried out into the hallway and looked down the stairs. Lily was leaning heavily against the wall, her face pale, tears streaking her cheeks.
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“It hurts, Dad,” she whispered. “It hurts worse than before.”
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