I had objected at first, but Alice insisted Stephen was just an old friend, someone who had helped her a lot in the past. She said we owed him and that turning him away would be ungrateful.
I trusted her completely and gave in to her unreasonable request.
Now, Alice stammered, claiming she didn’t know anything and needed to check before getting back to me.
Meanwhile, I kept trying to reach my daughter.
Not long after, Alice called back and said I was being paranoid. According to her, Carlos and Tatiana were just playing an escape room game with role-playing elements. What I saw earlier, she insisted, wasn’t real. Just part of the game.
But I trusted my own eyes far more than her excuses.
What I saw wasn’t some harmless prank; it was torment. My daughter’s fear was real, deep and unmistakable.
Then, Alice sent me another video. In it, Tatiana avoided the camera and spoke in a flat, robotic voice. “Daddy, I’m fine. Don’t worry. Today is my birthday and I had so much fun.”
That only fueled my anger. She was still wearing the same clothes from three years ago, the ones from the day I left home. The fabric was faded from too many washes, with several clumsy patches sewn in.