My husband pushed me down the stairs, and as I lay shattered at the bottom, my mother-in-law called my father and said, “Come get your worthless daughter and take her back.” Dad gave her only one warning: “If she has so much as a scratch, your family will answer for it.” They laughed at him because they had absolutely no idea who my father truly was.

I slept for six hours without waking to check the locks.

It was the longest uninterrupted sleep I had had since the fall.

PART 13

Martin did not apologize after the footage surfaced.

He called it misleading.

He claimed I had lost my footing while he reached out to steady me.

His attorney emphasized that the camera did not show every step of the fall.

I understood why lawyers tested evidence.