She didn’t ask where her father was sleeping tonight.

She just blinked slowly.

I reached over to the wooden nightstand and switched off the little bedside lamp.

The room went dark except for the yellow glow of the streetlight coming through the blinds.

I sat on the edge of the mattress in the quiet room and listened to the steady, even rhythm of her breathing until she was fully asleep.

The legal process moved with complete precision over the following months.