Chapter 2: The Form on the Table
Part 2 — continued in comments ⬇️
Mark didn't knock.
He walked straight in, looked at Zoe's face for about two seconds, and went completely still.
Not angry-still.
Something worse than that.
"She told you it was Miranda," he said.
It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
He sat down at the kitchen table and put his hands flat on the surface.
Zoe was still standing on the stairs, watching him.
"Dad—"
"Give us a minute, Zo."
She disappeared.
He waited until he heard her door close.
Then he said, "This wasn't the first time Miranda took her somewhere without telling you."
The room tilted.
"What do you mean it wasn't the first time?"
He wouldn't look at me.
"There were two other appointments.
I didn't know about those either until last week.
I found receipts."
"Mark.
What appointments?"
He finally looked up.
And the expression on his face scared me more than any of it.
"I need you to hear me when I say I didn't know.
I need you to believe that before I tell you the rest."
My voice came out very quiet.
"Tell me the rest."
He reached into his jacket and put something on the table between us.
It was a consent form.
Zoe's name at the top.
A signature on the line marked *parent or legal guardian.*
It wasn't mine.
It wasn't Mark's.
---
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What Mark said next stopped everything cold — and what's on that form is only the beginning.
Click the link below to read the full story.
