Chapter 7 - The Children’s Verdict
Spring arrived in Austin, blooming with warm sunlight and bluebonnets. Eleanor had become a frequent visitor, flying down once a month. She never spoke of Daniel, honoring her promise to keep his toxicity away from the kids.
However, Daniel couldn't stay away forever.
One afternoon, while the children were playing in the park near our private estate under the watchful eyes of security, a disheveled man approached the perimeter fence. It was Daniel. He looked thin, unkempt, and desperately humbled.
"Noah? Sophia?" he called out through the iron gates, his voice shaking.
The children stopped playing and walked toward him slowly. Security moved in instantly, but I held up a hand, stepping out onto the lawn to observe.
"I'm... I'm your father," Daniel stammered, tears streaming down his face as he looked at the four pristine, brilliant children. "I made a terrible mistake. A horrible, terrible mistake. Can you ever forgive me?"
Sophia, the quietest of the quadruplets, looked at him with an emotional maturity far beyond her years.
"We don't hate you," Sophia said softly.
May you like
Daniel’s face lit up with a sudden, desperate hope. "You don't?"
"No," Ethan added, putting an arm around his sister. "Because to hate someone, you have to care about them first. We don't know you. Our mama gave us love, strength, and everything in the world. You are just a stranger who looks like us."
