They Rejected My Daughter novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Doorstep

I took my coat off the hook and told the girls to stay in the kitchen.

Then I stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind me.

The sleet had turned to a thin cold rain.

Lorna Staniforth stood at the foot of my walk with her hands on her hips.

She was not smiling now.

"Where is my daughter?"

"She's inside and she's safe," I said. "She's had a hot meal and a dry set of clothes."

"You had no right."

"She came to my door."

"She's thirteen years old! She is a child, and you have taken her into your home in the middle of the night, and I am going to call the police."

"Please do," I said. "I'll wait."

Her mouth opened and closed.

Across the street, a porch light came on.

A man in a bathrobe stepped out with a mug in one hand.

Two houses down, a curtain moved.

Lorna saw it too.

She lowered her voice, and it turned smooth and warm again.

"Audrey," she said. "We both have daughters. Let's not do this in front of the whole street."

"You said police."

"I was frightened."

"You were frightened when you arrived. You had your hands on your hips."

Her eyes went flat.

"Listen to me," she said, very quietly now. "I don't know what you think you've found. I don't know what that little liar told you. But I sit on the district education foundation. I give this city more in a year than you will earn in ten."

← Chapter 7 · All chapters · Chapter 9 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend