“Sir,” his assistant’s voice came clearly, “everything has been taken care of. Ma’am Hedy’s brother has been arrested for bribery. I’ve already sent you the video of his current state. But sir… if your wife finds out, will she—”
The assistant hesitated.
Bryson glanced at my ashen face, then replied smoothly, “She won’t say anything. As long as she makes the right choice, everything will return to normal.”
He ended the call, then bent down and brushed a kiss across my cheek.
His soothing tone was just like the bedtime stories he told me before sleeping every night.
For a moment, I nearly faltered, lulled into confusion.
But then his fingers clamped around my chin, forcing my face toward his phone.
“Hedy,” he said softly, “Kenn just sent me something amusing. I think you should see it, too.”
Despite my desperate struggles, he pressed play.
I had already guessed from their words what I might see. Still, when the video lit up, I couldn’t stop the scream that tore from my throat.
There was my brother—the man who had raised me like a father, the one constant in my life—lying on the ground like a beaten dog.