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# CHAPTER 4: MY FATHER HADN'T ABANDONED ME—HE HAD BEEN TRYING TO EXPOSE THE PEOPLE WHO DESTROYED MY SIGHT
**The man who walked into my hospital room the next morning was my father—but I had to ask him to speak before I could believe it.**
He stood near the doorway holding a battered leather briefcase.
His hair was gray.
His shoulders were slightly stooped.
Deep lines surrounded his eyes.
He looked nothing like the strong young doctor I remembered from childhood.
But when he spoke, I knew.
"Mara?"
My heart stopped.
"Dad?"
His face crumpled.
"Hello, sweetheart."
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then I began crying.
I hadn't heard his voice in seventeen years.
I'd imagined confronting him countless times.
Sometimes I pictured screaming.
Sometimes I imagined asking why he hadn't loved me enough to stay.
But now he was standing in front of me, older and thinner, looking as frightened as I felt.
