Ava Chooses Where to Live
Chapter 09 - Ava Chooses Where to Live
A family court reviewed Ava’s immediate safety.
Nathan expected her to return home with him after the penthouse was cleared.
The child advocate asked Ava privately.
She chose to stay temporarily with her maternal aunt, Rebecca Reed.
Nathan felt rejected.
He did not challenge the decision.
The penthouse remained connected to the fear, glass, and weeks of isolation. Nathan’s love did not erase the fact that he had been absent.
At Rebecca’s house, Ava slept with the bedroom door open.
She hid crackers under the bed.
She checked every window for recording lights.
Therapy focused on control, routine, and permission.
Nathan visited according to a schedule Ava helped create.
During the first visit, he brought expensive art supplies.
Ava left them unopened.
During the second, he brought no gift.
They made grilled cheese and watched a nature documentary.
“Are you selling the schools?” she asked.
“Not now.”
“Because I stopped it?”
“Because the deal was wrong.”
Ava looked at him.
“Would you have signed if you hadn’t come home?”
Nathan did not protect himself.
“Yes.”
“Then why did you come early?”
“The meeting ended sooner than expected.”
Ava looked down.
The answer contained no destiny.
No instinct had magically pulled him home.
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Chance gave him a view of what he had failed to see.
What he did afterward would matter more than turning the coincidence into a heroic story.
