I never imagined my son, Jack Harper, would abandon his little girl, Lily, and leave her in my care while he ran off with his new wife. But that’s exactly what happened. When he showed up a decade later, he was met with a truth he never expected.
I raised Jack on my own after my husband left us. Life was hard, but I managed two jobs to make sure my boy never went without. I thought he’d grow up to be different from his father. I was wrong.
Jack had a wonderful wife, Sarah, but when she passed away, he remarried just months later. His daughter Lily, only nine at the time, became quiet and withdrawn. When Jack asked me to watch her “just for three weeks” while he and his new wife went to Alaska, I agreed. He promised to return on August 27. That day came and went—Jack never came back.
His phone was disconnected. His house sold. His daughter left behind.
I held Lily’s hands and told her, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll take care of you. One day, your father will regret what he’s done.”
And I was right.
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