Daniel sat beside her.
“You should have called me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of being rejected again.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
Then he removed his expensive watch.
He placed it gently on the table.
“I spent millions on things I didn’t need.”
He looked at Noah.
“But I missed nine years I can never buy back.”
Noah stared at him.
“So… are you going to leave again?”
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
He reached for his son’s hand.
“Not this time.”
Outside, rain began tapping against the old roof.
But inside that little house, something had finally changed.
Daniel had arrived expecting to find an ex-wife living in poverty.
Instead, he discovered a son he never knew he had.
A woman he had never stopped loving.
And a lifetime of mistakes he could no longer pretend didn’t exist.
The next morning, Daniel made one decision.
