The Teller of Small Fortunes

by Julie Leong

But I never wished to make you so unhappy here.” It was not an apology—but it was something. An acknowledgment. Tao looked back at him. It would be so easy to continue hating him—to let the hurt and humiliation of her adolescence seethe and fester—but instead, she pushed it all down. She shoved away, into some dark crevice of her mind, the memories of tiptoeing through this extravagant house—of hearing his voice criticizing her, dismissing her, cutting her down—and instead reminded herself of why she was here: to help Mash find his daughter. To help bring a family back together again, even if her own had been splintered beyond repair. With that in mind, her stepfather seemed small and unimportant before her—nothing more than a pale shadow from the past. So: “I know,” she said to him. There was nothing else to say.