Graham stood.
“I trusted you with my child.”
Nobody spoke.
“You sat alone with her three nights a week,” Graham continued, “and used that time to make her believe her parents thought she was a failure.”
Colin tried to apologize.
Tessa didn’t accept it.
Neither did we.
Graham told him not to contact our daughter again.
After they left, he sat beside Tessa for a long time.
“I should have listened to your mom,” he finally said. “And you should never have had to wonder whether we believed in you.”
Tessa wiped her face.
“Can I still go back?”
The recital auditions were only a week away.
Ms. Hart agreed to give Tessa extra practice time, but she made one thing clear: Tessa would still have to earn her place.
