CHAPTER : The Phone Call"*
442 Words
The fluorescent lights in the office buzzed above my head.
I rubbed my temples, staring at the stack of unpaid bills on my desk. Rent. Daycare. Groceries.
Being a single mom was expensive. Being a broke single mom was a full-time nightmare.
My phone buzzed. Unknown number.
I almost ignored it. Telemarketers were the only people who called me at 2pm on a Tuesday.
But it was the area code for Sunny Kids Daycare.
My stomach dropped.
"Hello?" I answered, trying to keep my voice steady.
"Mrs. Adele? This is Ms. Tola from Sunny Kids." Her voice was careful. Too careful.
"Is everything okay? Is Bella okay?" I was already grabbing my bag.
"Bella is fine," Ms. Tola said quickly. "She's... she had a little incident during playtime today."
I froze. "What kind of incident?"
There was a pause. "She fell off the slide. Just a scraped knee. We cleaned it up. But Mrs. Adele... that's not why I'm calling."
My heart was pounding now. "Then why?"
"During circle time, when we asked the kids to draw their family, Bella drew a picture of a man."
Okay. That was normal. Kids drew people all the time.
"And she pointed to the drawing and said..." Ms. Tola cleared her throat. "'That's my Daddy. His name is Damian Cole.'"
The world stopped.
Damian Cole.
The name hit me like a punch to the chest.
Damian Cole. The CEO. The man who fired me 5 years ago after one night. The man who didn’t know he had a daughter.
My hand started shaking. "I... I'm sorry. She must be confused."
"She was very insistent, Mrs. Adele. She told the other kids her daddy is rich and he works in a big building with glass."
Glass. The Cole Enterprises tower was all glass.
"Mrs. Adele, are you sure there's no father we should contact? In case of emergency?"
I couldn't breathe.
If I told her the truth, Damian would find out. He would take Bella. He had lawyers, money, power.
I had nothing.
"No," I whispered. "There’s no father. It was a mistake."
"Alright," Ms. Tola said, but she didn't sound convinced. "You can pick her up early today if you want. She keeps asking for her 'Daddy'."
I hung up and dropped my head into my hands.
Five years.
I ran for five years to keep him from finding out.
And now my 4-year-old daughter just said his name to her entire class.
I grabbed my keys. I had to get to Bella.
Before he did.
Because if Damian Cole found out he had a daughter...
He would never let us go.
*[TO BE CONTINUED...]*
- Writer
