Chapter 2

A few days later, a package arrived. It was the limited edition "Starlight Ballerina" doll I had ordered for Lily. She had won first place in her very first dance competition, and I had used the last of my savings to buy her this special gift. Her face lit up when she saw it, a pure, unadulterated joy that made every sacrifice worth it.

She was playing with it in the living room when Sophia came downstairs. Her eyes immediately locked onto the doll.

"Oh, that' s cute," Sophia said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "Where did you get it?"

"Mommy bought it for me because I won my dance competition," Lily said proudly, hugging the doll tighter.

Sophia' s smile tightened. She walked over to where Leo was working on his laptop. "Leo," she cooed, leaning over his shoulder. "Look at that doll. It' s the limited edition one I told you about last month. I wanted it so badly, but it was sold out everywhere."

Leo looked up, first at Sophia' s pouting face, then at Lily and the doll.

"Lily," he said, his tone authoritative. "Sophia likes your new toy. Be a good girl and let her have it."

I froze. I couldn' t believe what I was hearing.

"But... it' s mine," Lily said, her lower lip trembling. "Mommy gave it to me."

"Don' t be selfish, Lily," Leo said sternly. "Sharing is important. Sophia is your aunt. You should be generous."

I stepped forward, placing myself between Leo and our daughter. "No," I said, my voice shaking with a rage I hadn' t felt in years. "I bought that for her. It was a gift for her achievement. She is not giving it away."

Leo' s eyes narrowed. "This is a teachable moment, Ava. You' re teaching her to be possessive and selfish. Is that the kind of person you want her to be?"

"You want to talk about teachable moments?" I shot back, my voice rising. "What lesson are you teaching her when you demand she give her special prize to someone who gets a new car and a penthouse just for existing? You want her to learn that her accomplishments mean nothing, that her feelings don' t matter, and that she should just hand over anything she values to Sophia the moment she demands it?"

My outburst stunned him into silence. He stared at me as if he' d never seen me before. Sophia, seeing she had lost this round, let out a frustrated sigh.

"Fine," she muttered. "Keep your stupid doll."

To placate her, Leo immediately changed his tune. "You know what, Sophy? I was just thinking, we should all go to the amusement park this weekend. My treat. You and Lily can go on all the rides you want."

It was such a rare offer, such a stark contrast to his usual penny-pinching, that a tiny, foolish part of me felt a flicker of hope. Maybe he was trying. Maybe he had heard me.

On Saturday, Leo took Lily and Sophia to the park. I stayed home, needing the quiet to work on a freelance project with a tight deadline. I felt a pang of guilt for not going, but the sight of Leo and Sophia together was more than I could bear.

Around four o' clock, my phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello, is this Mrs. Ava Thompson?" a concerned voice asked.

"Yes, this is she."

"Ma' am, I' m calling from the guest services office at Six Flags. We have your daughter, Lily, here with us. She was found alone and crying by the 'Sky Screamer' ride."

My blood ran cold. "Alone? Where is her father?"

"That' s what we were hoping you could tell us, ma' am. She said he put her on the ride and told her he' d be waiting when it was over. The ride operator found her by herself at the exit. We' ve been unable to locate her father in the park."

Panic seized me. I dropped the phone, grabbed my keys, and ran out of the house. The drive to the park was a blur of terror. What kind of father abandons his six-year-old child on a ride? What could have been so important?

I found her in the small, sterile guest services office, her face streaked with tears, her body trembling. The moment she saw me, she ran into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Mommy, I was so scared," she cried into my shoulder. "The ride went up so high, and when I got off, he wasn't there. I called for him, but he was gone."

I held her tight, trying to absorb her fear into my own body. I felt a wave of nausea. He had just left her. He put her on a terrifying ride by herself and just walked away. What if she had gotten lost? What if someone had taken her? My mind spun with horrifying possibilities, each one worse than the last. He hadn't just been negligent, he had put her in real danger, and for what? To keep Sophia happy? The thought made me sick.