As the two policemen dragged Melody away, Richard felt his world collapse around him. The older man's legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees, drained of every ounce of strength.
He had not wanted to believe the evidence in the USB drive Melanie had given him. Even when the files loaded on his screen-page after page, evidence after evidence- he had clung to the faint, stubborn hope that it couldn't be true. That it was all some cruel misunderstanding. But the truth had stared back at him in cold, merciless detail. The horrifying things Melody had done over the years. The careful lies, the calculated malice. And Marianne, his dear 'wife' covering for her at every turn and from what he coudl see probably encouraging her.
