“They told me I was just a senile old burden,” he sobbed.
I wrapped both arms around him.
“They said you were too busy with your job to ever care.”
His fingers tightened around my shirt.
“And they said even if I told you the truth… you’d believe Julian instead of me.”
For several seconds, I said nothing.
I simply held my father while the shower continued roaring beside us.
Downstairs, Julian and Chloe still believed I had fallen for everything.
They believed the Power of Attorney protected them.
They believed Dad was too frightened to speak.
And most importantly—
they believed I was simply Elena, the daughter who lived six hours away and visited a few times a year.
I wiped my father’s tears and whispered, “Dad, I believe every word.”
