Chapter 13 - I Found Victor at the Bus Station Where He Had Abandoned Me—And Finally Learned What Happened on the Night I DisappearedVictor was arrested at the same bus station where I had been found twenty years earlier.
The location felt almost unreal.
Rain fell against the pavement.
The same kind of rain.
The same smell.
The same old benches.
Victor was handcuffed.
As he passed me, he smiled.
"You finally came home."
I stared at him.
"Why did you leave me here?"
He looked at the bus station.
"Because I couldn't kill you."
"Why?"
"Your mother begged me."
I waited.
"She said if I had any humanity left, I would let you live."
I swallowed.
"So you abandoned me."
"I left you where someone would find you."
"You watched me."
"Sometimes."
My voice broke.
"You knew I was alive."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell my father?"
"Because I wanted the trust."
He had watched me struggle.
Watched me work.
Watched me grow.
And never intervened.
I realized something then.
The cruelest part wasn't what he had done.
It was knowing he could have stopped my suffering at any time.
He simply chose not to.
The police took him away.
I stood there alone.
Then Dante approached.
He didn't say anything.
He simply put his arm around me.
I leaned against him.
"Let's go home."
May you like
This time...
I knew where home was.
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