Chapter 6 - DADDY SAID YES

Claire held the notebook with both hands.

“Tell me this is fake.”

Daniel swallowed.

Margaret answered instead.

“It’s called parenting.”

Claire snapped the notebook shut.

“I asked him.”

Daniel’s voice was low.

“I didn’t know she was writing everything down.”

“That’s your defense?”

“No.”

“You agreed to this?”

“I agreed Lily needed structure.”

“She is five years old.”

“She was throwing tantrums at dinner.”

“Because she was hungry!”

“That’s not what Mom said.”

Claire stared.

“So you believed your mother over your child.”

Daniel’s eyes filled with frustration.

“You’re twisting everything.”

Rachel laughed from the doorway.

“She doesn’t have to twist anything. Your mom kept records.”

Margaret pointed at her.

“You need to leave.”

Rachel smiled.

“Call the police.”

Nobody moved.

Claire flipped deeper into the notebook.

There were months of entries.

Measurements.

Punishments.

Comments.

Too emotional today.

Sneaked banana.

Asked mother for extra milk. Claire enables overeating.

Claire’s grip tightened.

Then she found a page marked FAMILY PLAN.

Daniel’s handwriting appeared below Margaret’s.

Not a signature.

Actual notes.

Stop snacks after preschool.

No second portions unless vegetables finished.

Weekly weigh-in okay.

Claire looked at him.

“You wrote this.”

Daniel’s shoulders dropped.

“Yes.”

The single word hurt worse than the slap.

Claire whispered, “Why?”

“Mom said Lily needed boundaries.”

“Did you ever ask Lily?”

“She’s a child.”

“Exactly.”

Daniel stepped closer.

“I thought we were helping her.”

“No. You thought obeying your mother was easier than being a father.”

His face tightened.

“That’s not fair.”

Claire shoved the notebook against his chest.

“Read it.”

“I’ve seen it.”

“No. Read it.”

“Claire—”

“READ IT.”

Daniel looked down.

Claire pointed.

“‘Cried for twenty-three minutes after being denied breakfast.’ Read the next line.”

Daniel remained silent.

Claire read it herself.

“‘Eventually stopped asking.’”

The kitchen went quiet.

“You trained our daughter to stop asking for food.”

Margaret sighed dramatically.

“Oh, for God’s sake.”

Claire whirled around.

“Do not speak.”

Margaret blinked.

Claire had never spoken to her that way.

Not once in nine years.

Claire walked closer.

“You hit me tonight because I challenged you. What did you do to Lily when she challenged you?”

Margaret’s face hardened.

“I never hit her.”

Lily’s voice came from behind them.

“Yes, you did.”

Everyone turned.

Claire’s heart stopped.

Lily stood in the kitchen entrance.

Rachel’s husband, Mark, was behind her looking apologetic.

“She woke up crying. She wanted you.”

Claire rushed toward her.

“Baby, you weren’t supposed to be here.”

Lily pointed at Margaret.

“She hit my hand.”

Margaret went pale.

“When?”

Lily held up her right hand.

“When I took bread.”

Claire crouched.

“Did it leave a mark?”

Lily nodded.

“In the bathroom.”

“What bathroom?”

“Grandma took a picture.”

Margaret moved suddenly.

Toward the counter.

Toward her phone.

Rachel got there first.

She snatched it away.

Margaret shouted, “Give me my phone!”

Rachel backed up.

Claire stared at Margaret.

“Why did you take a picture?”

Margaret said nothing.

Lily answered.

“She sent it to Daddy.”

Claire turned toward Daniel.

Daniel’s face went white.

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