Chapter 26
When he saw her bleeding and hurt, the first thing Carter said wasn’t concern.
It was
“Do you know what you did wrong?”
Even a stranger on the street, seeing her like this, would have at least asked if she was alright. But her husband stood there, waiting for her to surrender, to admit fault.
Sharon laughed.
Carter frowned. “What are you laughing at?”
She wiped the blood from her forehead, but the rotting lettuce leaves stuck to her clothes and the sticky smear of raw egg on her shoulder left her looking completely wrecked.
“I’m laughing at myself for putting so much effort all these years into a monster.”
She gave up trying to clean herself and looked directly at him through the car window. “So this is how you make me regret it? You sic the internet on me, send people to corner me in the street, just to avenge your precious Kelly?”
He was silent for a few seconds. “You think I did all this?“.
“Didn’t you?” Sharon smiled faintly. “I moved into a new place. Even with a doxxing, there’s no way they would’ve found me that quickly or that precisely. Who else would’ve known? You’re the one who had Nate pass me that message—‘you’ll regret it,‘ remember?”
Her eyes locked onto his. “If you care so much about protecting Kelly from pain, then why not just divorce me? You two could be together openly, without guilt, without lies.”
A flicker of anger crossed his face.
“Sharon, I’ve told you over and over again–there’s nothing between me and Kelly. Can you stop making a scene like this?”
“If there’s no divorce,” she said coldly, “then get used to my scenes.”
Carter’s eyes turned sharp, frigid. “So you’re determined to be this stubborn?”
“Yes,” Sharon answered.
He let out a laugh, furious. “Fine. I hope you never come crawling back to me.”
Then his car pulled away, tires spitting dust behind him.
Another day and night passed.
The heat around Sharon still hadn’t cooled.
Carter never came forward to speak up for her. He didn’t issue a statement. He didn’t pull the stories down. His silence was its own kind of confirmation, leaving her to be hounded like a rat in the streets.
While Carter stayed quiet, Kelly posted a statement on her X.
[The fact that I’m in the hospital has nothing to do with Sharon. The incident where I fell into the water was purely an accident. We’ve reached an understanding, and I don’t plan to hold her accountable.
[As for the rumors online about Sharon stealing my boyfriend—those are all in the past. I hope everyone will let it go.]
The internet exploded.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 26
If the fall into the water was resolved peacefully, and she wasn’t holding Sharon accountable, that could only mean one thing: Sharon really had pushed her
And the mention of the past –no clarification, no denial–only cemented the story. As if Kelly was saying, yes, Sharon had been the mistress, but it was over now, so let’s all move on.
But Sharon knew the truth. So did Carter. So did Nate.
When she and Carter got together, he and Kelly were already broken up.
Then came another wave.
Someone leaked rumors that she had something going on with John.
John Westin, the wildly popular musician known for both his looks and talent, had exploded into the public eye. Now, people were accusing him of getting involved with a married woman–Carter’s wife, no less. The backlash hit him too.
But it didn’t stop there.
Trouble always seemed to come all at once, like rain falling on a crumbling house.
The police came knocking.
“Sharon,” the officer said, “someone’s reported you for attempted murder. Please come with us to cooperate with the investigation.”
They brought her into the interrogation room.
Online, conspiracy theories were everywhere. Some were already calling for her to get the death penalty.
But theories weren’t evidence.
Even with Kelly’s fall into the water, even with her almost getting run over by a car, there wasn’t enough to claim Sharon had tried to kill her.
The questioning lasted from morning until night.
Eventually, the interrogators had to admit they had nothing solid. They released her.
As she stepped out of the room, a young officer hurried over to the lead interrogator and whispered something in his ear.
The man’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You’re sure about that?” he asked.
Chapter 27
