They had attacked me because they believed they were powerful enough to escape the consequences.

Two years after the alley, Elena called.

My parents’ defense team had reached out; my parents wanted a meeting before their final sentencing and asset surrender.

They were facing total ruin and immediate incarceration, and they were desperate, and what they wanted, it emerged, was money.

From me.

I agreed to meet them, in a private conference room at the courthouse, with two armed bailiffs at the door.

I did not go out of pity.