The doctor who’d falsified my records lost his medical license and faced criminal charges of his own.

Then Joyce took the stand to defend herself.

“I only wanted to instill a little discipline in her,” she said, her voice dripping with condescension.

“Because dinner was nineteen minutes late?” the prosecutor asked, his voice echoing through the quiet room.

“She knew the rules of this house,” Joyce spat back.

“And the punishment for being late was boiling oil?”

Joyce looked desperately toward Samuel, but he kept his eyes fixed on the floor.