Page 59 of Conquered Obstacles

“Oh, I’ve not even begun to make my point,” I warned as I took a step closer making it clear I wasn’t backing down and would go all the way with this. “She works for me, and that means Justina and her firm are already Emily’s attorney if she needs her. It’s in her contract, even part-time. She could take you to court and sue you for neglect and emotional damages.”

“Dayumn,” Megan’s mom whispered. “You really are a momma bear with your employees. I knew it from the day those men came here, but this is… Wow.”

“I told you,” Megan chuckled. “Can they both sleep over at our place tonight? Just so everyone can settle with this and we can figure out a plan or—”

“We don’t need you putting more nonsense in Emily’s head,” her mom snapped.

“Hey, don’t talk to my daughter like that,” Megan’s mom seethed. “I’m with Arabella on this. You’re a moron for not seeing that Mr. Fuller was a slimeball. I get he didn’t turn on the charm for me because Megan’s not on the AP track, but he oozes gross and wrong. I knew that from the parent and college meetings.

“And you should thank Megan that Emily had a safe friend she could come to who listens to her since you brushed her off! You’re glad she’s pretty so disgusting men notice her and she can use that? What mother tells her daughter that? Are you in the 1940s? Was the recommendation worth her being raped or is that too far for you?”

“Of course, that’s too far,” Emily’s mom shouted. “I didn’t know he went that far! He said she looked pretty and her skirts were cute. So what? You think she won’t have that in the workplace? In life? She needs to learn how to handle that sort of attention and—”

“She is a child,” Kary growled. “Your child! You are the one who is supposed to protect her from that! Not teach her to fucking accept it. Of course, she’ll have to deal with it when she’s an adult! A forty-year-old saying these things to and about a sixteen-year-old is a pedophile! Why are you not fucking getting that? She’s a kid. Your job was for her to never experience what she is now. You failed!”

“We deal with that shit all of the time at college and even one professor who makes comments about us being hot twins and wishing he was younger,” Mary told her.

“What?” I seethed. “Who?”

“We handled it, Mom,” she told me, keeping Emily’s mom’s gaze. “Because you showed us how to handle it when we were young. You shielded us when we were kids so we knew how to handle it and the line now that we were adults. That is the way a parent should fucking be. Not tell her to suck it up and this is the world. What else have you allowed to happen to your kid?”

“Is she even safe to be in that house?” Kary pushed, giving me a worried look. “Seriously. She knew a guy was interested and flirting with kids, petting her hair, was in her daughter’s life, and didn’t handle it. She’s not safe with a woman like that.”

“Now wait just a damn minute,” Emily’s father cut in.

“I agree, and I’m just as wrong,” Grace’s father whispered, shocking all of us. “He never touched Grace. I should have listened, but you knew he touched Emily. I didn’t know that.”

“You shut down the conversation before I could tell you,” Grace rasped. “You said I was being too sensitive and seeing monsters everywhere because of Arabella’s influence.”

“You bastard,” Irene seethed.

“I was wrong,” he accepted. “I was really wrong. I’m sorry, Gracie.” He looked to Megan’s mom. “If Grace wants to stay with you tonight and you’re fine with it, thank you.”

“She’s always welcome at our house,” she accepted.

“Or we could take them to the guest house at your place,” Mary offered. “If you all just want the night off. Talk to Sgt. Adams about what comes next.”

“We beat that bastard bloody and tell the school what’s going on,” Grace’s dad said firmly.

Unfortunately, that was not going to be the answer and we all knew it. That would simply have him in jail and make Mr. Fuller look like the victim.

So no, that was not the plan we would go with.

But I had wanted to do the same.

16

Hades allowed Hera to be released one day early since the bakery was closed and I could be there for it. I hadn’t wanted to be involved, but I thought it was important since it involved me. Poseidon agreed and it showed that we wanted to demonstrate solidarity with what Hades had done.

And against Zeus. That was most important for sure.

I arrived at the underworld with Poseidon, and we went to where Hera was being kept. She looked horrible, gaunt from being there for so many days in a row.

“One last thing before you are released,” Hades practically purred as he reached out and touched her.

I gasped as I was flooded with power. He gave me a chunk of her power, and from the reaction Poseidon had next to me, he was getting the same.

“Zeus will punish you for that,” Hera panted, clearly hurting from losing that so fast.

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