Chapter 3 - The Empty Room
Rowan stood helplessly against the wall as the social worker entered his daughter’s bedroom.
The police officer kept a firm grip on Rowan’s shoulder, ensuring he could not intervene.
Ivy wept openly in the hallway, her heart breaking as she listened to the strangers wake her child.
Elara let out a terrified scream as the unfamiliar woman pulled the blankets away from her body.
The social worker gasped loudly when she saw the horrific, uneven patches on Elara’s shaved head.
She immediately assumed that the viral video was accurate and that Ivy had committed this terrible atrocity.
Rowan begged the woman to ask Elara who actually cut her hair.
The social worker knelt beside the bed, asking the little girl to tell her the absolute truth.
Elara looked at her parents, her eyes wide with fear, before looking back at the scary woman with the clipboard.
Before Elara could speak, the social worker gently told her that she did not have to be afraid of her wicked stepmother anymore.
The leading question completely confused the traumatized eight-year-old child.
Elara began to cry hysterically, unable to articulate the complex events of the afternoon.
The social worker stood up, her face hardening with absolute, terrifying certainty.
She announced that she was placing Elara into emergency protective custody effective immediately.
Rowan screamed that they were making a catastrophic mistake, fighting against the officer’s grip.
The second officer quickly stepped in, tackling Rowan to the floor and pressing a knee into his back.
Ivy fell to her knees, begging the woman not to take her baby away into the dark night.
The social worker wrapped a blanket around the crying child and carried her down the stairs.
Rowan watched through tears of pure agony as the police car drove away with his entire world in the back seat.
The officers released Rowan and warned him that a judge would contact him in the morning.
Rowan lay on the cold hardwood floor, his mind fracturing under the weight of his utter failure.
He had promised to protect his family, and he had lost everything in a matter of hours.
Ivy sat beside him, her spirit completely broken by the vicious cruelty of the universe.
Rowan slowly sat up, a new, dark resolve hardening his broken heart.
He swore that he would burn the world down to get his daughter back.
He walked to the garage and grabbed a heavy steel tire iron from his toolbox.
He told Ivy to lock the doors and call their lawyer, promising he would return soon.
Rowan drove his truck through the stormy night, heading directly toward Selene’s house.
He was going to force his sister to confess on camera, no matter what it took.
He arrived at her dark suburban home, gripping the heavy metal bar in his hand.
He kicked the front door open, ready to unleash a decade of suppressed rage upon his abuser.
He turned on the living room lights, expecting to find Selene gloating over her victory.
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Instead, he found the living room completely trashed, with shattered furniture scattered across the floor.
A massive pool of fresh, dark blood was slowly soaking into the center of the white rug.
