Chapter 4 - The Smear Campaign
Within seven minutes, the distinctive warble of sirens echoed from the street forty floors below, followed by the soft hum of the private elevator rising directly to our penthouse vestibule.
Ryan had already orchestrated his stage.
He had deliberately wiped a streak of my spilled blood from the floor onto his collarbone, torn the sleeve of his pajama shirt, and forced Denise to sit on the couch looking pale and trembling. When the elevator doors slid open to reveal two armed officers—Officer Miller, a grizzled veteran with tired eyes, and Officer Vance, a younger female officer with a rigid posture—Ryan was already hyperventilating.
“Thank God you’re here!” Ryan shouted, rushing toward the officers, holding his bruised forearm. “Officers, you have to restrain her! She attacked me and threatened to kill my mother!”
Officer Miller held up a hand, his eyes scanning the scene with tactical detachment. “Everyone step back. Keep your hands visible. What’s going on here?”
Denise burst into theatrical, trembling sobs, clutching a tissue to her dry eyes. “Officer, please! She’s an absolute monster! My son asked her for breakfast, and she flew into an uncontrollable rage. She threw a pot of scalding soup all over the kitchen, hit my son with a heavy iron pan, and tore his clothes! Look at my poor boy!”
Officer Vance immediately stepped toward me, her hand resting cautiously near her service weapon. “Ma'am, do not move. Keep your hands on that counter.”
I was leaning against the entryway credenza, my body shaking violently from shock. My left leg was an angry mess of yellow blisters and raw, peeling flesh. Blood was trickling down my chin from my split lip, and my right cheek was swollen purple where Ryan’s wedding band had cut into my skin.
“Officer,” I whispered, my voice cracked and dry. “Look at me. Look at my face. Look at my legs.”
Officer Vance’s eyes dropped down to my thighs, and her stern expression visibly fractured into horror. “Jesus Christ. Officer Miller, call EMS right now. We have severe second-degree burns here.”
“Don't fall for it, Officer!” Ryan yelled, stepping between Vance and me, his chest puffed out with arrogant authority. “She did that to herself! She spilled the broth while she was throwing pots at my head! She’s mentally unstable! I am the head of this household, and I demand you remove this violent woman from my condo immediately!”
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Officer Miller frowned, stepping past Ryan with a heavy tread. “Sir, back up and sit on that chair before I detain you for interfering with a medical assessment.”
“You can’t talk to me like that!” Ryan snapped, his voice shrill. “Do you know where you are? This is the Grandview Penthouse! I pay your salary with my taxes! I want her out of my property right now, or I’ll have your badges!”
