“Arthur?” she answered. “What’s wrong?”
“I need you at my house. Now. Domestic violence… and I think there’s more going on.”
Ryan glared at me.
“Who did you call, old man?”
“Someone who knows how to ask the right questions.”
Derek stood up—big, expensive watch gleaming in the sun.
“Mr. Delgado,” he said coldly, “stay out of a couple’s business.”
“The moment a man hits my daughter in my house,” I replied, “it stops being a couple’s issue.”
That’s when Emily whispered:
“Dad… it’s been happening for over a year.”
The world dropped out from under me.
And just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, Ryan stepped aside, made a call, and said:
“We’ve got a problem. The old man’s snooping. Get here now.”
I had no idea what was about to unfold.
PART 2
Valerie arrived twenty minutes later—with two former colleagues and a lawyer who specialized in victim advocacy.
They didn’t make a scene. They didn’t need to.
Their presence changed the air.
Ryan went pale.
“Who are you people?”
“Valerie Monroe,” she said calmly. “I’m here because the homeowner asked me to be. And because a woman was just assaulted in front of witnesses.”
Derek stepped forward.
