I considerately draped a coat over her.
She instantly collapsed into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
I leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Emma, what are we going to do? I don't know about your father... How are we going to come clean? I..."
Before I could finish, she clamped her hand over my mouth, whispering urgently, "Don't say it. If you do, we're both finished. Since Ryder has already sacrificed for us, we can't let history repeat itself."
"But what about Ryder?"
"I'll take care of the rest."
She didn't disappoint me. In this critical moment, she discarded Ryder just as she had discarded me. She rushed to her father's side, crying out, "Dad, it's a good thing you came!"
"Ryder has been pestering me, and this time he went too far, actually trying to force me..." She t
