Chapter 11 - THE FIGHT FOR MY DAUGHTER
I confronted Tove that evening.
But this time, I wasn’t the same person who walked into the kitchen weeks earlier.
I wasn’t confused.
I wasn’t hoping for an explanation.
I knew.
“What did you write on her drawing?”
Tove looked at me.
“What?”
I placed the paper on the table.
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But I noticed.
“You did this.”
She crossed her arms.
“You’re accusing me?”
“I’m asking you.”
“No.”
Her answer came too quickly.
I stared at her.
“Why does Mireya think I’m going to leave her?”
Tove looked away.
“She’s sensitive.”
“No.”
My voice became stronger.
“She’s scared.”
Tove laughed.
“You’re acting like I’m some monster.”
I looked at her.
“Are you?”
The silence that followed was heavy.
Then Tove’s expression hardened.
“You know what your problem is?”
“What?”
“You think being a father means you’re automatically right.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I pointed upstairs.
“Being her father means I protect her.”
Tove stepped closer.
“And what about me?”
“What about you?”
“I gave up everything for this family.”
I stared at her.
“You didn’t give up anything.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You’re choosing her over me.”
I answered immediately.
“Yes.”
The word shocked even me.
But it was true.
“Yes.”
A tear appeared in her eye.
But I couldn’t tell if it was sadness.
Or anger.
“You’ll regret this.”
I looked at her.
“Is that a threat?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she picked up her phone.
“I guess we’ll find out who people believe.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
She smiled.
“You’ll see.”
Two days later…
I found out.
My phone started exploding with messages.
Unknown numbers.
Emails.
Notifications.
Someone had posted a story online.
A story about me.
About how I was supposedly an unstable father trying to take my daughter away from her loving stepmother.
The comments were brutal.
People who didn’t know me were judging me.
Calling me selfish.
Calling me dangerous.
I stared at the screen.
Because I finally understood Tove’s plan.
She wasn’t just trying to win custody.
She was trying to destroy my reputation first.
Then Rachel called.
“Cullen.”
“I saw it.”
“I know.”
“What do we do?”
Her voice became serious.
“We fight back.”
“How?”
She paused.
“By showing the truth.”
That night, I reviewed every piece of evidence we had.
The videos.
The recordings.
The fake documents.
But then I found something unexpected.
A message hidden inside the phone Mireya found.
A message between Tove and Daniel.
And one sentence caught my attention.
The accident needs to happen before the hearing.
I stared at the screen.
My blood went cold.
May you like
Because they weren’t just planning to take my daughter.
They were planning something worse.
