"What's there to argue about? That person in the video obviously isn't you. You weren't even wearing those clothes when I arrived."
Valerie's face lit up as she looked up suddenly. "That's right! I wasn't wearing that outfit at all. And when you came to rescue me, dozens of witnesses saw me—they could testify!"
Ryan suppressed a sigh as he watched her wide-eyed innocence, these naive words hanging between them. How could he respond without crushing her enthusiasm?
"The men I brought were my own people. My father would claim I ordered them to lie for you. And if he learns you were alone in that room with Francis—even with the video proven fake—he'd never let you stay near me."
Growth comes for everyone, willing or not. Eventually she'd learn life's hardest lesson—that not all kindness i
