Chapter 6 - WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I WAS GONE
I replayed the video five times.
Five times.
Because my brain refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
Mireya was sitting on the floor.
Holding her stuffed rabbit.
Her face was wet from crying.
Then Tove walked toward her.
She didn’t yell.
She didn’t scream.
That almost made it worse.
Because her voice was calm.
“Mireya.”
My daughter looked up.
“Yes?”
“You know your daddy gets tired, right?”
Mireya nodded.
“He works hard.”
Tove crouched beside her.
“You don’t want to make his life harder, do you?”
The little girl shook her head.
“No.”
“Good.”
Then Tove smiled.
“If you keep crying and causing problems…”
She paused.
“You might lose him.”
I felt sick.
Because that was the weapon she used.
Not punishment.
Not anger.
Fear.
She was making my daughter believe she could be abandoned.
I shut the laptop.
I couldn’t watch anymore.
I walked upstairs.
Mireya was asleep.
Her small hand was holding the edge of my shirt.
Even while sleeping.
Like she was afraid I would disappear.
I sat beside her bed.
And I made a decision.
The next morning, I called an attorney.
Not because I wanted revenge.
Because I needed to know how to protect my daughter.
But before I could leave the house…
Tove stopped me.
“You’re meeting someone?”
I looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
I didn’t answer.
Her face changed.
“You’re actually doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Turning my own family against me.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
I took a breath.
“You did that yourself.”
For the first time…
Tove looked nervous.
Then she reached into her purse.
And placed something on the table.
A document.
“What is that?”
She smiled.
A cold, confident smile.
“Something you should read before you make a mistake.”
I picked it up.
The title was at the top.
My hands tightened.
Because it wasn’t a normal document.
It was a custody agreement.
With my signature already printed on it.
But I had never signed it.
I looked at Tove.
“What is this?”
Her smile disappeared.
May you like
And she said something that made my entire world stop.
“Ask yourself why your name is already on it.”
