There was a pause on the other end, and I could almost see my father’s expression shift from concern to a calculated seriousness. “Tell me everything,” he urged gently.

I recounted the entire conversation I had overheard, the bile rising in my throat as I described their malicious intent. My father listened intently, his silence punctuated only by the occasional intake of breath as he processed the gravity of the situation.“Is there anything you need right now?” he asked after a moment of contemplation. “Do you want me to come get you?”