"Daddy! You’re finally back!" she whispered, her body shaking. Silent tears streamed down her face as if she was afraid of making too much noise and waking the others.
I held her close, rubbing her back gently. "Daddy's home now. But why are you still doing homework this late?"
I reached for her workbook, but before I could touch it, she quickly grabbed it and hid it from me.
Still, I caught a glimpse of the name on the cover — Astrid Motley.
It wasn’t hers.
Before I could say anything, a soft voice came from the doorway.
"Daddy? When did you get back?"
It was Astrid, standing timidly at the door.
I looked at her, then back at the workbook. "Astrid, why is your homework in Zera’s room?"
Her eyes darted nervously to Zera before settling on me.
"Zera saw I had a lot of homework, so she offered to help," she said with a sweet smile.
But when I looked at Zera, she immediately lowered her head as she confirmed, "It’s true… I offered to help. It’s not her fault."
However, her voice quivered and her small frame was shaking with fear. So, I wasn’t convinced.
But when my gaze shifted back to Astrid, she just shrugged nonchalantly.