My husband pushed me down the stairs, and as I lay shattered at the bottom, my mother-in-law called my father and said, “Come get your worthless daughter and take her back.” Dad gave her only one warning: “If she has so much as a scratch, your family will answer for it.” They laughed at him because they had absolutely no idea who my father truly was.

None of it was glamorous.

Each small step felt like reclaiming a room in a house I had forgotten belonged to me.

Near sunset, Gabriel returned with news.

The emergency custody motion would be reviewed at a hearing the next afternoon.

He had filed our response and requested protective provisions.

“Will Lily be there?” I asked.

“Not in the courtroom unless the judge directs it.

Children should not have to watch adults fight over them.”