“Heidi and Caleb reported that your father attempted to extort them. We need to bring him in for questioning.”
My father had just finished surgery and was in unbearable pain.
I knelt and begged, but the officers could only shake their heads.
“These are orders from above. We cannot do anything.”
I tried to block the bed, but they said I was obstructing the law.
My father was dragged away violently, the bandages on his legs turning red with fresh blood.
I ran after them, but when I reached the corner, a black bag suddenly covered my head.
A storm of fists and kicks crashed down on me.
“How dare you lay a hand on Caleb’s woman. Learn your place.”
“Do not kill her. She is still Caleb’s wife.”
“Wife? Caleb never cared about her. His heart has always been with Heidi. If she had not forced herself in, she would never have married him.”
I did not know how long the beating lasted before they finally left.
I lay curled on the ground, motionless, like a discarded rag.
Seven years ago, when Caleb first took over the family business, it was my father who used every connection he had to help him stabilize the situation.