Chapter 10 - DANIEL'S OWN BLINDNESS
Daniel wanted the story to be simple.
Rachel abused Emma.
Daniel saved her.
Maya refused.
“Why didn’t you read the trust invoices?”
Daniel looked away.
“Rachel handled them.”
“Why?”
“I trusted her.”
“Why didn’t you attend more therapy appointments?”
“Work.”
“Why didn’t Emma tell you sooner?”
Silence.
Emma had said:
because she did not want Daniel angry.
Maya continued:
“Did you make anger feel dangerous?”
Daniel thought about:
slamming cabinet doors,
shouting during arguments,
the slap.
He did not hit Emma.
Never.
But anger filled rooms.
Children learn rooms.
Then Daniel said:
“I thought being protective meant reacting fast.”
Maya answered:
“Sometimes protection is noticing before the emergency.”
That hurt.
Daniel began:
parenting counseling,
medical-care training,
direct review of every trust expense.
Not because CPS ordered all of it.
Because he had delegated too much.
May you like
Rachel exploited the gap.
But Daniel had created the gap.
