Chapter 8

The criminal case moved faster than I expected.

The district attorney had video.

Medical records.

Witnesses.

A terrified child.

A wealthy defendant with a public image to protect.

Victoria’s team tried to settle quietly.

David refused.

“They want counseling and no jail,” his attorney said.

David looked at me.

I said nothing.

This was not my decision.

But it mattered.

David turned back.

“No.”

Victoria’s mother called next.

I heard the conversation from the hallway.

“She made one mistake,” the woman said.

David’s voice stayed calm.

“She abused a toddler.”

“She was under pressure. Raising another woman’s child is not easy.”

“He is my son.”

“And Maria? You’re destroying your marriage for a servant?”

Silence.

Then David said, “Thank you for reminding me where Victoria learned it.”

He hung up.

I almost smiled.

Almost.

Then my own problem arrived.

My landlord called.

“Maria, I heard about the scandal.”

I closed my eyes.

Of course he had.

“I don’t want reporters around the building,” he said. “Maybe you should move.”

“I have a lease.”

“Not if you bring trouble.”

David found me crying in the laundry room.

I hated that.

I hated being seen broken.

“What happened?”

I told him.

His face hardened.

“I’ll have my attorney call him.”

“No.”

“Maria—”

“No. I don’t want another rich man fixing my life because he feels guilty.”

He stepped back.

The words had landed.

I regretted them instantly.

But not enough to take them back.

He nodded slowly.

“You’re right.”

The next day, instead of calling my landlord, he gave me a list of housing resources and a letter confirming my employment and income.

“No pressure,” he said. “No favor owed.”

I stared at the papers.

That was the first time David helped without making help feel like a chain.

I found a small apartment two weeks later.

Clean.

Quiet.

Mine.

When I told Leo I was moving, he cried.

“Ria leave?”

“I’ll still come to work.”

“Sleep here?”

“No, sweetheart. But I’ll see you in the morning.”

He looked at David.

“Daddy stay?”

David nodded.

“I stay.”

Leo thought about that.

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