His father looked toward me.
“Your name was in that room, Amal. So was Lina’s.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did you find?” I asked.
He hesitated.
“Enough to understand that you were not the first person to tell me something was wrong.”
Khalid stepped toward the microphone.
“This is an attack on me. My father is confused, and he has been influenced by—”
“Stop,” his father said.
One word.
But Khalid stopped.
His father removed another document from the folder.
“Years ago, before your marriage, a woman came to this family asking for help. She told us that Khalid had threatened her and controlled her life. I believed my son when he said she was exaggerating.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I told her to settle the matter quietly. I told her that protecting the family’s reputation was important. I thought I was preventing a scandal.”
His voice broke.
“I was helping to create one.”
