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"If you don't sign that waiver and get your cousin and his wife out, I'm jumping!"
Zachary's face was pale with anger, but he kept his voice steady.
"Lily was slashed six times. Four broken ribs. Her heart was four millimeters from being punctured. Leo kicked her and caused a miscarriage."
"The cops were two minutes from finding her body in a wall."
"You almost lost your daughter. Why are you defending the people who did this?"
Mom looked down, ashamed. She peeked at me.
"I… I didn't know. They said it was just a little scuffle. But Lily's okay now, so can't we just…"
I cut off her idiotic plea.
"Zachary, let her jump. Let her do it. Then she can explain to Dad how she killed herself to force her daughter to forgive her murderers."
"No! That's not it!"
Zachary saw his chance and yanked her back from the ledge.
Hospital security finally arrived and escorted them all out. Peace, at last.
I gave Zachary a tired, broken smile.
"Now you see why I never wanted you around her too much."
"She sees we have a condo, she gives it to Leo."
"If she knew about the company, she'd hold a knife to her own throat to make us sign it over to him."
"She was adopted by them. Living for the Lee family is her whole purpose."
Zachary sat on the bed, pulling me into a careful hug.
"It's okay. You have me."
I held his hand. "Naomi's pregnant. She'll get bail.
What she did to me… she was live-streaming it. That app is illegal. I'm not letting her walk away from this."
Zachary held me tighter.
"Do whatever you need to do. I'm with you."
I wouldn't lay a hand on Naomi myself.
Others would do it for me. This wasn't her first time. How many other victims were out there?
Wouldn't they want payback?
Naomi, good luck.
What goes around comes around.
I recovered in the hospital. Zachary handled the legal mess with Leo and Naomi.
He came in one day with a lunch bag, his expression troubled.
"Naomi's out, isn't she?" I guessed.
"Yeah. Her family lawyered up. She's out on bail."
I handed him a folder. "Take a look. She won't get off easy."
I'd paid to have her dug up. Leo lied about being rich for a reason. Money can do a lot.
Zachary scanned the first page, then slammed it shut, face dark with fury. "Animals!"
I'd memorized that illegal app and Naomi's username. It was a gallery of victims.
Naomi was clever. She posed as a client, preying on vulnerable women, torturing them, banking on their fear to keep them silent.
One girl was left permanently scarred.
She always wore a mask. They never saw her face.
But I would make sure they knew. I would watch her fall.
She made a fortune from their pain. It was time to pay it back.
Zachary had been camped out at the hospital. I finally nudged him.
"We took a two-week vacation, and you've been here a week. That's nearly a month. If the company goes under, we'll be eating instant noodles for life."
"But I don't want to leave you."
I waved him off. "I'm fine. We hired a nurse. Go."
He kissed my forehead.
"I'll be back tonight."
After he left, the pain meds pulled me under. The nurse woke me near dusk.
"Ms. Walker, let's clean you up for dinner."
She handed me a warm towel.
A smear of red marked my right index finger.
