After my conversation with Freya, I felt completely hollow. Not just defeated… but stripped of something vital, like my heart had been ripped out and left behind with her all those years ago. I had prepared myself for this day for so long, imagined every possible reaction she might have—but nothing could have prepared me for the reality of standing in front of my daughter and seeing the pain in her eyes… pain I had caused by leaving her behind. No one knew the sacrifice I made. No one knew what it took for me to walk away from my own child, knowing exactly what kind of monster I was leaving her with. Every instinct in me had screamed to take her, to run, to fight—but I knew if I did, I would lose them both. So I made the choice that would haunt me for the rest of my life. My sweet boy Josh
