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To those who see themselves as broken. I hope you find someone who admires your scars for what they are: A sign of your struggle and a testament to your strength.
quick. Our daughter needs your help while I go murder her boss.” “Ex-boss.” He squeezes me hard. “Not if I can help it.” “What?” My mom comes rushing out of the kitchen with a cloud of flour dust following her. “Ellie? What are you doing here?” “Hi, Mom.” I wiggle out of Burt’s embrace and wipe the tears from my face. Burt softly pushes me in my mom’s direction. “Keep an eye on her while I go searching for my ax.” “It’s in the garage. Bottom left shelf next to the paint cans.” “Mom.”
First, he canceled his birthday party and asked my aunt to contact the amusement center a few towns over to refund my original deposit. Then, he called my assistant, Ariel—a number I gave him for emergencies only—and requested our family trip to be postponed until further notice. According to my aunt, he called Ellie too, but she didn’t answer. People say we shouldn’t negotiate with terrorists, but what happens when the one causing terror is my eight-year-old son?
She continues, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for keeping the secret from you. I know I should have told you, and while I don’t regret not breaking Nico’s trust, I do wish it hadn’t affected the little trust you gave me in the process.” She hangs up, leaving me to spend the rest of my night contemplating how the hell I’m going to convince her to come back.
“Of course twice in my whole life. One trip was enough to last a lifetime.” His head tilts. “But you agreed to go on this trip.” “Because it’s important to him,” I whisper while pointing my thumb at the row behind us.
My life was a far cry from Nico’s, which means I did my job as a father, even if it meant sacrificing love and time to make it possible. “I may have money now, but it wasn’t always like that, which is why I work hard to make sure you have all the things I always wanted but couldn’t have.” “Oh.” His frown deepens. “I’m sorry for making fun of work.” “It’s okay. I’m not telling you so you feel bad. I just want you to understand why working is important to me.” He throws his arms around my waist and gives me a hug. “Thank you for working hard so we could come on vacation.”
