Miguel read the sentence twice. "He knows my name in his apology," he said quietly. "That's considerate." Sofia flinched. "Please don't."
"I'm trying very hard not to do worse than sarcasm."
That afternoon, Miguel called Dr. Teresa Salazar, a licensed family therapist in Houston recommended through a coworker's wife. Teresa specialized in children dealing with divorce, deployment, and family disruption. She advised Miguel and Sofia not to ask Lucia leading questions about Daniel. If Lucia volunteered information, they should listen calmly, reassure her she had done nothing wrong, and redirect any adult interpretation back to therapy. Most importantly, Teresa said, they needed to stop using Lucia as a source of evidence.
"Children will tell you details because they want to make the emotional weather improve," Teresa explained. "If she sees that certain information makes Dad angry and Mom cry, she may start editing herself. Protect her from feeling responsible for truth management." Miguel wrote the phrase down.
Truth management. He realized Sofia had already placed some of that burden on Lucia by allowing Daniel's presence to become a secret with rules. Miguel refused to replace that burden with a different one by making his daughter prove the affair. He already knew enough. The watch existed.