Lilian's POV
The sight that greeted me in my parents' bedroom made my blood run cold. My father lay sprawled across rumpled sheets, his face a canvas of purple bruises and swollen flesh. Angry welts covered his arms, and dried blood crusted the corner of his mouth.
My hands clenched into fists. "What happened here?" I demanded, my voice cutting through the stale air. "Who did this to you?"
Mom collapsed into another fit of sobbing, her shoulders shaking violently. She couldn't even look at me. Dad just groaned and turned his face away, refusing to meet my eyes.
The silence stretched until I felt like screaming. "Answer me," I said, my voice breaking. "Was this our business rivals? Tell me who hurt you."
Through her tears, Mom finally choked out the words that shattered everything. "It was gambling, Lilian. Your father... he gambled away everything."
