When she was taken away, the house felt completely different, as if a heavy pressure had finally been removed from every room.
That night, Cassian stayed with his daughters in a quiet playroom filled with blankets and warm drinks. Sarah and Mia spoke for hours about everything they had been forced to endure.
They described punishments, threats, and lies about their mother that had been repeated inside the house for years.
They also explained how Laura had protected them by feeding them, comforting them, and staying close even when it put her at risk.
Cassian listened without interruption and realized how much he had missed while trying to hold everything together from a distance.
Before they slept, Mia asked in a soft voice, “Will Laura be allowed to stay with us from now on.”
Cassian looked at Laura standing quietly near the doorway and said, “If she chooses to stay, this house will always be her home as well.”
Laura covered her face and cried quietly while Sarah finally smiled for the first time in a long time.
Cassian sat with his daughters and understood that the real damage had not been the past itself, but the silence that allowed it to continue for so long.