When I went to my daughter’s parent-teacher meeting, I came face-to-face with the man who bullied me all through high school. The next day, the school called—my daughter had collapsed during PE, her body covered in bruises. As I arrived, he leaned close and whispered, “This is only the beginning. Just wait.” He thought I’d still be the scared kid I used to be. He had no idea who I’d become.

First, I called the attending ER physician back into the room. I instructed him to photograph every single bruise on Lily’s body, measure them, and document their exact locations. I forced him to file a mandated police report for severe child abuse and aggravated assault with the local precinct immediately.

Then, I left Lily in the care of my husband, who had rushed to the hospital from work, pale and furious.

I drove home, walked into my home office, and opened my laptop.

Vance thought I was still the quiet, mousy girl from sophomore biology class. He didn’t know that I had spent the last decade climbing to the top of the legal food chain. I was currently the managing partner at Sterling, Rossi & Vance, one of the most ruthless, heavily connected, and universally feared corporate litigation firms in the state. I spent my days destroying multi-million-dollar corporations in federal court. Destroying a middle school gym teacher was barely going to require a warm-up.

I didn’t just have lawyers at my disposal. I had a small army of the best private investigators and forensic accountants money could buy.

I picked up my phone and called my lead investigator, a former FBI agent named Marcus.