Karen read every page slowly. When she finished, she closed the folder and looked at me grimly.
“This is serious abuse.”
“I know.”
“We’re required by law to report this.”
“Good.”
She studied me for a moment.
“You seem… very calm.”
I gave a bitter laugh.
“If I wasn’t in a hospital right now, I wouldn’t be.”
Karen nodded.
“I’m calling the police.”
It was almost midnight when Laura rushed into the hospital. Her hair was messy. Her face was pale.
“Where is she?”
I didn’t answer. I only pointed toward the bed.
Sophie lay asleep under the blankets.
Laura rushed to her side.
“Oh my God… Sophie.”
She touched our daughter’s hair gently.
“Is she okay?”
The doctor answered before I could.
“She’ll recover physically.”
Laura looked relieved.
Then her eyes dropped to the folder in my lap.
And all the color drained from her face.
“You found it.”
Three words.
My heart sank.
“You knew about this.”
Laura’s hands started shaking.
“I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“That bad?”
I stood up slowly.
“She locked our daughter in a freezing cottage for twelve hours.”
Laura’s eyes filled with tears.
“My mother said Sophie exaggerated.”
I stared at her.
“You believed that?”
“She said Sophie lied for attention.”