He felt an inexplicable pull toward the girl, a sense of familiarity that defied logic since he had never even spoken a word to Elena’s young ward. That night, Daisy couldn’t sleep as she remembered the chemical smell of a hospital room from her own past and the hushed voices of doctors.

The following morning, Bridget walked into the sunroom with the usual tray and a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she handed the glass to Miles. “Drink up, darling, because we have a very long therapy session planned for this afternoon,” she urged him while leaning against the doorway.

Miles lifted the glass to his lips, but a small and trembling voice suddenly cut through the heavy silence of the room. “Dad, please do not drink that,” Daisy whispered from the entrance, causing Miles to freeze and the glass to stop just inches from his mouth.

Bridget spun around with a look of pure venom on her face and demanded to know what the child was doing in the private quarters of the house. Daisy didn’t flinch or run away, but instead stepped forward and pointed a finger directly at the glass held in Miles’s shaking hand.