Novels by gabriel dung dauda

Melody has always been Daddy’s good girl. Since Nick entered her life when she was eight, he has been more than just her stepfather. He became the father she trusted, the person she depended on, and the one whose approval meant everything to her. After losing her mother five years ago, Melody and Nick became even closer. Their shared grief turned them into a family of two, and Melody slowly built her entire life around taking care of him. Now, at eighteen and freshly out of high school, Melody should be stepping into adulthood. Instead, she is still living by Nick’s rules. She cooks for him. She takes care of the house. She goes to church with him every Sunday. She worries about disappointing him. And whenever she feels guilty about something, she turns to confession, believing that telling God her sins will make everything right. But adulthood brings questions she was never prepared to answer. One secret leads to another, and soon Melody finds herself carrying something she is terrified to tell Nick. The more she tries to hide the truth, the heavier her guilt becomes. Then there is Andrew, Nick’s younger brother and a familiar presence in Melody’s life. He notices the changes in her before Nick does. He sees that Melody is struggling to understand where her childhood ends and adulthood begins. When Melody’s secrets finally begin coming to light, the relationship she has always trusted most starts changing. The man she has always called Daddy wants to protect her. Melody wants to understand herself. And neither of them realizes just how dangerous it can become when love, control, family, guilt, and forbidden feelings begin crossing lines that were never supposed to be crossed.