of the Bully ()

The events that followed proved your every misgiving. It may have seemed like he was reformed, but it had all been a ruse. He clearly just wanted to get close to you and Kaori again. You and your wife kept seeing him, letting him back into your life. It wouldn’t be a lie to call him one of your best friends.

The mask came off the day before the fateful phone call. He invited Kaori to lunch with him, and then dropped a stack of files on the table. She leafed through them, and discovered page after page of evidence proving her father’s wrongdoing. The entire time he’d been gaining your confidence, he’d also been investigating her. Hunting for an exploitable weakness.

You say on the couch with your wife, commiserating. How had you let this jackal into your lives?

“Darling…please. This is my fault. Really. You…you saw the way I was when I was with him. You said there was trouble and I s-should have listened…”

You put a {if Male = true}strong{endif}{if Female = true}gentle{endif} hand on her shoulder to give her reassurance. She sighed and leaned into your touch. In the process, her words drifted away. You filled that silence with assurances and promises. You vowed to save her from him once, and you were going to do everything in your power to save her again.{if Meek = true}

(Meek) You started strong, but you couldn’t even finish the promise before your voice started to falter. How…exactly were you going to protect her? It’s not like you could snap your finger and make his **** disappear. Her expression seemed to darken as the doubt crept in.{endif}

“…I love you…”