There was nothing here but the endless stench and me, clutching a fistful of moldy bread.
I loved that child down to the marrow of my bones.
Wherever I went, Camille was always with me.
"Stop joking around."
A flicker of panic crossed his face when he spoke. "I mean it. I'm here to bring you both home."
"Home?"
My eyes burned as I looked up at him. "When you faked your death three years ago, they said you still owed a mountain of debt. They took the house too, said it was collateral.
"Camille and I had nowhere to go. We've been wandering ever since. What home is there to go back to?"
His mouth worked uselessly for a long moment before he managed to speak.
"That... that was just part of the test. Don't worry, the house was always mine. Come on, be good. Tell Camille to stop hiding. Once she comes out, Daddy will apologize."
"Then go ahead."
I hurled a death certificate at his face.
"Go down there and apologize to Camille yourself."
When the paper landed in his hands, his fingers trembled.
"Camille..."
He read the words "sudden cardiac death" and his eyes went red in an instant.
"I was only gone for three years. How can Camille be gone?
"You're lying to me, aren't you?"