That night, as my grandson’s voice shook through the phone—“Grandma, I’m at the police station.

“What, Grandma?”

“Don’t ask me that question. You know what I’m referring to.”

There was a long silence. I could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall. Finally, Ethan spoke, so softly I barely heard him.

“For six months.”

“What started six months ago?”

“It started with insults. Then she started breaking my things—my video game console, my notebooks, a soccer trophy you gave me. She said they were accidents. My dad believed her. Then she started hitting me. Slaps, shoves. Once she locked me in the basement all afternoon because I said I wanted to come see you.”

My heart broke into a thousand pieces.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Because I was afraid that if I told you, my dad would be more angry with you. I thought that if I put up with it a little longer, things would get better. But today… today was different. I saw something in her eyes, Grandma. I realized that she wants me to disappear. She wants to push me away from you. She wants you to see me as a problem. She wants my dad to see me that way, too.”

Spencer finished filling out the papers and handed them to me. I signed without reading, trusting him. Then he stood up.

“I’m going to call your son to also sign the release of the minor. Wait here.”

He left the office. Ethan and I were left alone. I hugged him, this time even tighter. I felt his body relax against mine, as if for the first time in hours he could breathe easy.

“Forgive me, my boy. Forgive me for not realizing sooner.”

“It’s not your fault, Grandma. It’s my dad who didn’t want to see.”

He was right. But that didn’t make it hurt any less.

The door opened. Rob entered alone. He didn’t even look at me. He walked up to the desk, took the pen Spencer extended to him, and signed the papers with quick, jerky movements, as if every second in there was hurting him.

“That’s it,” he said dryly. “Can I go?”

“Rob,” I said, standing up. “We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to talk about with you,” he replied without turning around. “You made your choice. You chose to believe him instead of my wife.”