The Girl He Sold Returned As The King’s Mate Chapter 19
He hadn’t even bothered to have security question Peter.
Tucked away in the old visitor log was the manager’s note from that day:
*Mr. Hawthorne requested this lead be closed. No further contact.*
When Daniel saw that line, he stared at the floor and didn’t look up for a long time.
He had always told himself he’d done everything he could, that he had fulfilled his duty as a father.
It turned out the truth had once knocked on his own front door.
He had simply found the messenger undignified and shut the door in his face.
That visitor log had sat in a private warehouse for thirteen years.
If he had been willing to investigate then, I might only have been sold once.
Elliot did not go easy on Daniel just because he was my biological father.
Daniel was removed from his Royal Council post, stripped of all liaison authority, and demoted to a low-level administrative position in a small western Pack.
Before leaving the capital, he asked to see me one last time.
This time, I agreed.
He placed the electronic key to my mother’s estate on the table between us.
“Your room has been restored.”
“I got back everything Isla took.”
“Evelyn, come home. Come back to Riverbend with me.”
I didn’t touch the key.
“The moment that room was given to someone else, it stopped being mine.”
“I can replace everything in it.”
“Things can be replaced.”
“Thirteen years can’t.”
Daniel’s eyes were red.
“What can I do to make you forgive me?”
“I’m not asking you to do anything.”
“My forgiveness is not a currency you can use to buy peace of mind.”
“There is simply no father-daughter bond left between us.”
He lowered his head, suddenly looking ancient.
Before he left, he said he would always keep that room for me.
I didn’t stop him.
That was his way of living with his regret.
It had nothing to do with whether I ever went back.