Betrayal's Echo: A Husband's Resolve

me. I bent down and whispered to Lily, "Cover you

gain, my fingers moving quick

urgent. "It's me. Drop everything. I need you t

h Jenkins, my head of PR and the most loyal pe

a guard put his ha

out from behind me. Her face was tear-streaked,

inting a small finger at Scarlett. "

silent, surprised by the child's outburst. Then, a w

even coached his k

Maybe he wants a pa

er, seemed to find it amusing. He leaned down and whispered something t

he stage, right above w

imicking his father's arrogance. "Your mommy doesn't

g. It wasn't a hard kick, but it was enough to make her lose her ba

nee was scraped, and a thin line of red blood was already welling up

ed through me. I looked up at the stage, at the smirking boy, at Jake who wa

he mother

standing th

sed. I was ready to vault onto that stage and

n, do

finally moved, stepping forward to blo

clenched teeth, loud enough for those nearb

f a deliberate act of cruelty, and she called it "playing." T

out a thick wad of cash. He peeled off a few hundred-dollar bills, crumpled them

"For the kid's medical bills. Or buy her

a generous celebrity dealing with a classless extor

the money an

happy fam

ld protective ser

o haul me away. I didn't resist them. My focus was on Lily. I gently picked h

ing, "I'm here, sweetie.

from crying, met mine. The hurt was still there, but beneath it, something else w

ust a whisper,

hand touching my cheek. "Ma

a command. And looking into my dau

wo