He punched me five times in front of his mistress, tossed me out into the snow, and left me broken on the sidewalk. I phoned my dad with one demand: make him pay. By the next dawn, the prosperous life my husband crafted started crumbling bit by bit.
The Nightmare Begins
Snowflakes mingled with the blood trickling from the corner of my lip as I stood in the cold. Each punch felt like a hammer blow to my soul.
The first punch landed. I questioned why his mistress. Lily. Was sitting at our dining table wearing my diamond necklace. The second came when I demanded she take it off.
The third. Fourth. And fifth punches rained down as my husband. Victor. Roared that everything in this house was his.
The fifth punch sent me crashing into the wooden cabinet by the door. Henry he yanked open the front door and hurled my suitcase into the snowstorm.
“Get out, Ava,” he panted, his platinum wedding ring glinting under the pendant lamp. “You should've known your place.”
Lily stood behind him in my velvet gown, grinning as if she'd won a jackpot.
I refused to shed a tear in front of them. I stepped outside barefoot. My cheek throbbing. My side aching. And the snow muffling the sound of my sobs. Victor slammed the door so hard the doorbell vibrated.
A moment later. The security gate slid open. And I staggered onto the sidewalk of our peaceful street in Beverly Hills. Los Angeles.
Alone in the Cold
Megan whizzed by. No one bothered to stop. I huddled on the curb under the streetlamp, shivering from the cold and the humiliation. My phone screen was shattered, but it still functioned.
Victor had always sneered at my father's name. As if Henry was just a rich old man. Not the founder of one of the most influential real - estate companies in the US.
He picked up on the second ring. “Ava?” His voice instantly changed. “Naomi's going on?”
I glanced back at the house where Victor. Lily were probably sipping champagne from my grandmother's crystal flutes.
“He punched me,” I choked out. “Five times. For her. Henry he threw me into the snow.”
There was a terrifying, controlled silence on the other end. Henry my father asked, “Are you safe?”
A Father's Wrath
His next words were icier than the snow. “Martha closely, Ava. Don't go back in. Don't talk to him. Don't answer if he calls. I'm sending security and a doctor.”
For the first time that night, my father didn't sound like a father. He sounded like a prosecutor ready to indict.
Thirty - five minutes later, two black sedans pulled up beside me.
By sunrise. Victor's bank accounts were frozen. His major business partner had pulled out. His company's board had called an emergency meeting. And every dirty secret he'd hidden under his designer suits was being exposed.
Seeking Justice
My father didn't take me to his mansion right away. He brought me to Cedars - Sinai Paula. There, a trauma nurse took pictures of the bruises on my cheek, neck, and upper arm.
A doctor diagnosed a fractured rib, swelling around my right eye, and defensive marks on my wrist.
