EMBER’S POV
“Because I saw you on the news.” His voice cracks again. “During a press conference. I saw you standing up there, speaking to the camera, saying five words they have haunted me every night. You are dead to me. And though it wasn’t directed at me, I felt it so much. I felt it down to my depths that you also said those words for me. But also, I realized… I realized that my daughter was the bravest person I’d ever seen. And I was too much of a coward to even watch it sober.”
He wipes at his eyes with the back of his hand, not bothering to hide the tears.
“I checked myself into rehab after your mum sent the divorce,” he continues. “Cold turkey. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But every time I wanted to give up, every time I wanted to reach for a bottle and make it all g
