Chapter 2 - The Locked Bedroom Door
The heavy lock clicked upstairs, and small, frantic footsteps pattered across the hardwood hallway.
Lily appeared at the top of the stairs, my phone still clutched tightly in her tiny, bruised hands. Her cheeks were streaked with wet tear tracks, her eyes wide with terror as she looked down at the scene below.
"Grandpa!" she sobbed, practically flying down the carpeted steps, completely ignoring Ryan.
My father dropped to one knee, throwing his arms open. Lily threw herself into his embrace, burying her face into his coat shoulder. He held her tightly, his hand gently patting her back as he whispered, "I've got you, baby. Nobody is ever going to hurt you or your mother again."
I dragged myself over to them, falling onto my knees beside my father. Lily immediately reached out, wrapping her small arms around my neck, kissing my bruised cheek. "Mommy, I called Grandpa... I locked the door like he told me..."
"You did so good, sweetie," I choked out, pressing a kiss into her soft curls. "You were so brave."
Meanwhile, Ryan was edging slowly toward the side hallway that led to his private home office. His hand was hovering near his pocket, his eyes darting frantically.
"Don't move, Ryan," one of my father's security guards, Marcus, said firmly, stepping directly into his path.
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"This is my house!" Ryan suddenly yelled, his composure completely snapping as the trap closed in on him. "You can't come into my home with armed men and intimidate me! I am her husband! This is a domestic matter!"
"This stopped being a domestic matter three months ago, Ryan," my father said, standing up smoothly with Lily still held safely against his chest. "And as for this house... you haven't owned a single brick of it since Tuesday."
