Despair clung to Shane-Leo like a shroud as he left the sterile confines of the hospital waiting room. The accusations that hung in the air, flung at him by Norah's parents, echoed in his mind, a relentless torment. He had expected anger, frustration even, but the sheer malice in their voices left him raw and vulnerable.If they wouldn't trust him, wouldn't believe his explanation, then what was the point? Explaining himself felt like a futile exercise, a desperate attempt to win acceptance from people who had never truly offered it.He slunk towards his car; every step heavy with a sense of defeat. He hadn't even waited for the doctor's report, consumed by a suffocating need to escape the accusatory atmosphere.As he turned to leave, his father-in-law's voice, gruff yet laced with a tinge of reason, chided his wife. "Leave it," it had rumbled, "Calling the police will only drag the family name through the mud." There was a pragmatic coldness to those words, a stark contrast to hi