Chapter 59 Chapter 59
LIANA'S POV
I heard the front door open, the familiar thump of little feet, and the soft jingle of her keychain bunched in her fist. Stanley's name still rang in my mind like a whisper. So did Mum's voice earlier.
"Cam doesn't get to take that away from you."
"Mummy!" Cam yelled, grinning as she shrugged her bag off and kicked her shoes off in opposite directions: one towards the hallway, one under the sofa. I grinned, wiping my hands on a kitchen towel. "Hello, darling. How was school?"
"Good!" she trilled, bouncing onto the kitchen stool like it was a trampoline. "I did a presentation on clouds. Miss Adu said I was very confident."
"Of course you were," I said to her, kissing her on the top of the head. "You're the most confident person I know." She smiled wide, missing one of her front teeth. I handed her a juice box and sat down across from her.
I just watched for a minute as she drank, swinging her legs back and forth, humming off-key. Then I took a deep breath. "Cam?"
"Hm?" she said, mouth still on the straw.
I paused. "You remember the other day. when you saw me and Uncle Stanley by his car?" Her legs stopped swinging. She pulled the straw from her mouth slowly and looked at me. "You were watching us."
She shrugged a little. "You kissed him."
I smiled gently. "Yeah. I did."
"And on the mouth."
I nodded. "Yes.”
Cam Blinked. “Isn't that something people do when they really like each other? Is he your boyfriend now?"
I stifled a laugh at her bluntness. "No, well... We're still figuring it out. But I do like him, and he really likes me. And he likes you, too."
She finished her juice box before answering. "He always buys me gifts."
I laughed. "That he does."
Cam was quiet for a moment. Then she spoke again, "Is he gonna be my daddy now?"
My heart flipped a little at her question. I wasn't aware how much that question would affect me until I heard it said.
"I don't know yet, baby," I replied truthfully. "That's a big decision. But… if everything goes well between us, he could be a big part of our lives."
She looked down into her lap. "I don't know about that."
I tilted my head to the side. "You don't?
She shrugged again. "It's just… different. I like Uncle Stanley. But I don't want you to not be mine anymore." That hit me harder than anything else. I reached out and held her small cheek. "Cam, I will always be yours. Nobody can ever take that away. And you'll always be mine. Uncle Stanley could never change that."
She seemed to think about it, then nodded a little, her lips forming a hesitant pout. "Can I ask you something?" she said after a while.
"Sure."
Her eyes met mine, serious now. "Who's my real daddy?" The room seemed to catch its breath for a second. The fridge growled. Somewhere outside, a car horn blew. But here, there was only that question.
I exhaled. "You'll know soon, Cam. I promise."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "What don't you want to tell me? Is he a bad man?"
I picked up her hand and held it gently. "No, baby. He's not a bad man. He just… did some bad things to me."
She frowned, obviously confused. "But if he did something to hurt you, doesn't that make him bad?"
I smiled, gentle and sorrowful. "Sometimes people do hurtful things to other people, even when they don't mean to. It doesn't always make them bad people. Just… broken. Or lost. Or flawed. Your daddy did some things that hurt me, but he also gave me you. And that's the best gift anyone's ever given me."
Cam stared at our hands. "Okay. Now that makes more sense."
"You're not mad at me, are you?" I asked gently.
She looked up with those big, honest eyes. "No. I just want you to be happy." That got me more than anything. I blinked rapidly and smiled. "You make me happy every day, baby. Every single day."
We hugged there in the kitchen, her little arms around my neck. And I wished the moment could stay wrapped around us forever.
But life doesn't operate that way. My phone buzzed on the counter.
I kissed Cam's forehead and took it, expecting it to be a call from work or maybe Stanley.
But it wasn't either of them. It was an unsaved number I knew too well.
One new voicemail. I accessed the voicemail and listened to it on speaker.
There was a crackle then the voice came up.
"Hello Liana," the voice said, curt and serious. "I have everything I need now. I've been doing a lot of digging and I finally found something that could get Dominic out of the way for good."
I hesitated. The words tumbled too fast.
"I have everything it would take to ruin him. Legally. Fina Just say the word."
My throat was suddenly dry. "Come to my house," I rasped, voice flat, even.
The line died, went silent.
Cam tilted her head. "Who was that?"
I smiled mirthlessly. "Just someone who's helping me with something very important."
She nodded and finished drinking the rest of her juice.
But my mind was a wildfire. Every second, every heartbeat was now echoing with a question above all others:
What had he found out?