Chapter 7 - a late apology
The judge's gavel rang out loudly, concluding the trial. Vance closed his eyes, a long sigh escaping his chest. The crushing weight of a thousand pounds had finally been completely lifted.
The police removed the cold handcuffs from his wrists. The crowd murmured, but now they looked at him with respectful eyes instead of the extreme fear and absolute contempt they had shown at first.
Sarah ran over and tightly embraced her daughter. She looked up at the heavily tattooed man, tears streaming down her face out of deep remorse and profound gratitude. She had misunderstood him incredibly blindly.
"I'm so sorry, Vance," Sarah choked out. "I was in such a panic. I didn't know you had been silently enduring all these terrible things just to protect our safety."
Vance smiled, a rare smile that softened the rugged features of his face. He rubbed little Abby's head, careful not to smudge the red heart the little girl had just drawn with pure trust.
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"You don't need to apologize at all. I only did what a man has to do," Vance replied in a deep voice. Everything seemed to have ended peacefully, but another dangerous, ruthless dark shadow was lurking just outside in the darkness.
👉 read part 8 to see the true enemy reveal himself.
