"Bruno, are you all right?"
Calvin stepped up to steady me, but his nails dug hard into my arm.
He kept his voice low.
"Bruno, do you know why you lost the case?"
"Because I cleared away all the evidence ahead of time."
"The night your daughter got hurt, Annette was sleeping right beside me."
"She called Annette more than a dozen times, but we were too caught up in each other to pick up."
"The moment I found out what happened, I got to the scene first and cleaned up every piece of evidence, exactly the way Annette told me to."
My head buzzed.
The whole world twisted out of shape in front of me.
I lifted my head in disbelief, past the point of feeling any pain.
Thomas came over too.
He crouched down in front of me, a taunting grin on his face.
"Old man, how'd you end up as useless as that daughter of yours?"
"Can't hold on to your wife, can't win your lawsuit."
"Take my advice. Hand Annette over to my dad nice and quiet, or Emily's going to have a very hard time from here on out."
Hearing the filth in that threat.
Fury swallowed whatever reason I had left.
I lunged and grabbed Thomas by the throat.
"You animal, don't you dare touch my daughter again!"
The next second, Annette hauled me off.
One ringing slap brought me all the way back down.
She helped Calvin and his son up, her face full of contempt.
"Bruno, have you lost your mind, making a scene in front of everyone? Do you want me to put you away with your daughter?"
"The rotten branch falls from the rotten tree. No wonder a decent kid turned out like this under you!"
She yanked my arm and dragged me in front of Calvin.
"Apologize."
"Or I'll show you exactly what a professional lawyer can do to you!"
The taste of blood seeped into my mouth.
I raised my head and spat a mouthful of bloody foam into Annette's face.
"In your dreams!"
For my daughter, I would never bow my head.
Annette and I parted on the worst possible terms.
She simply seized the chance and moved into Calvin's house.
The three of them ate and lived together, for all the world like a real family of three.
I tried to use the things Calvin had said to dig up new evidence and refile the case.
But I was afraid my daughter would find out we'd lost.
So I stuck to the flight we'd already booked, planning to take her away for a while to clear her head and let things cool down.
But when I came back after finishing the packing, I found Annette standing at the foot of the hospital bed.
Playing on the TV was the recording of yesterday's hearing.
Annette didn't spare a word.
"Emily, you're an adult now. Don't think you can do whatever you want just because Bruno indulges you."
"I already know everything you two schemed."
"Apologize to Calvin and his son, or I'll send you and your father to prison together."
My daughter was already sobbing too hard to speak.
In front of someone who refused to believe her.
Every explanation meant nothing.
She cried helplessly, at a loss.
It drew the attention of the patients passing by.
A visitor there for someone else suddenly turned to look at Emily.
"Hey, isn't this the girl from that leaked-video scandal? What's she doing here?"
"She looks even better in person than in the video. Just wonder if she's as wild as she was on camera."
"How about we add each other online and set something up?"
My daughter and I both froze where we stood.
Emily reacted first, snatching the phone I'd hidden away.
I don't know what she searched.
In an instant, a suggestive sound rang out through the empty hall.
