Ava confessed that Brenda hit her when she cried, refused to let her eat if she mentioned her mother, and threw away every photograph she had kept hidden. Michael looked around the room and realized the walls were bare where memories once lived.
After giving Ava water and food, which she consumed desperately, he settled her in his home office and promised not to leave her side again. Then he walked to the master bedroom, where Brenda slept comfortably, unaware that her control had ended.
When Michael accused her of locking Ava in the closet, Brenda laughed nervously and claimed the child was dramatic and prone to imagination. His patience vanished when he demanded her phone and found photographs of Ava trapped in darkness, accompanied by messages describing hunger, fear, and punishment.
“Why do you have these,” he asked, his voice shaking with fury. Brenda tried to snatch the phone back and said she was documenting discipline, but her words rang hollow.