Chapter 2: The Note on the Ground
My hands were shaking as I took the lunchbox from him.
"Please," I said.
"Tell me what's going on.
Is Chloe okay?"
He nodded slowly.
"She's not hurt.
But she's in trouble."
He told me his name was Walter.
He'd been sleeping near the school for almost a year after losing his job and his apartment.
Chloe had been the only person who treated him like a human being.
"She stopped coming last week," he said.
"And when she finally showed up yesterday, she had a bruise on her arm she was trying to hide.
I asked her what happened.
She started crying."
My heart stopped.
"She made me promise not to tell you," he continued, his voice low.
"But I'm not willing to keep that promise.
Not when a child is scared."
I grabbed my phone to call her.
It rang twice, then went to voicemail.
Walter reached into his coat pocket and held out a folded piece of paper.
"She wrote this," he said.
"I think she meant to throw it away.
I found it on the ground near where she sits every morning."
I unfolded it with trembling fingers.
The first line made my breath stop completely.
*"If I tell Mom, he said he'll make sure she gets hurt too."*
---
What Chloe had been hiding was far more serious than anyone realized — and the person behind it was closer than I ever imagined.
May you like
Click the link below to read the full story.
👇
