Christina wiped her tears and shook her head. "Grandpa, stop hitting Mom. I'm fine!"

Douglas finally lowered his hand and let out a long, exhausted sigh as he sank onto the couch.

Irene, still shaken, crawled toward Leroy, her face full of panic when she saw him lying motionless on the floor. "Leroy, are you okay? Please, don't scare me like this—what did those bastards do to you?"

Tears of humiliation welled in Leroy's eyes as he suddenly threw his arms around Irene, sobbing. "Mom, I don'