I crouched to her level so fast my knees cracked.
“Lina,” I said, each word trembling. “Where did you meet him?”
She smiled.
“At the park. He gives the ducks bread.”
My blood turned to ice.
“What park?”
“The one Daddy takes me to when you work late.”
I stood so abruptly the chair behind me crashed to the floor.
My husband came home an hour later carrying oranges.
He found the fruit rolling across the kitchen because I had thrown the bag when he walked in.
“What happened?”
I held up the drawing.
His face drained.
“Who,” I asked quietly, “is Samir?”
He set the keys down slowly.
“Leila…”
“No lies.”
He sat.
That scared me more than if he’d shouted.
“He approached me two months ago,” Kareem said. “Outside Lina’s school.”
I stared.
