Chapter 43
“Don’t you think it’s reckless to decide I’m guilty based on the words of a few bystanders?” Sharon asked bitterly.
He hadn’t jumped to conclusions the way he used to-hadn’t blindly believed Kelly this time–but everything he’d found was exactly what Kelly had wanted him to see.
“What are you trying to say, Sharon?”
She looked at him squarely, her voice firm and unshaken. “What I’m saying is that I didn’t hit her. I won’t apologize to Kelly. In fact, she owes me an apology.”
His expression grew colder, the lines around his eyes sharpening.
“Sharon, it’s just an apology. Does it really have to be this hard?”
“Not at all. Apologizing isn’t hard-when you’re in the wrong,” she said quietly. “But I’m not. So why should I?”
His face remained unreadable, his voice clipped. “Whether you meant it or not, you hit someone. That alone warrants an apology.”
“You’re right,” she said. “But like I told you, I didn’t hit Kelly. She hit me.”
Carter’s patience snapped. “You’re being completely unreasonable, Sharon!”
She turned away, withdrawing her gaze. “Then stop wasting your time. I won’t apologize to Kelly. If you’ve got the guts, go ahead and throw me in jail.”
“Fine. You’ve got backbone,” he said, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. “Don’t come crying to me later.”
Carter didn’t return after that. Maybe he was waiting for her to cave, to admit she was wrong. She didn’t.
Then, a headline about the car accident shot to the top of trending topics. The story was everywhere, red-hot, impossible to ignore.
To boost credibility, they even attached photos.
The article painted her as cruel and calculated, a woman who wouldn’t hesitate to cause a crash to kill someone in her way.
With so-called “concrete evidence,” the entire internet turned on her.
[This woman is absolutely vicious! It wasn’t enough to break them up-she actually wanted to kill her? She thinks Mr. Biggs will fall for her if Kelly dies? Dream on. A snake like her doesn’t deserve love!]
[She’s terrifying. Mr. Biggs, get away from her! Divorce her before she turns on you too!]
[Jhope Sharon drops dead. She’s evil to the core!]
[A killer like this shouldn’t be allowed to walk free. Lock her up now!]
[Death penalty!)
[ +1 for death penalty!]
The comments section was a wasteland of hate. Some even went as far as saying they’d send her funeral wreaths. Someone had Photoshopped a funeral portrait. Her phone number was posted online.
Her phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Message after message, curse after curse.
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in the flood of condemnation.
To say anything neutral was to be accused of defending her. Anyone who didn’t join the mob was labeled a paid shill.
Three days later, Sharon was discharged from the hospital.
She was mostly recovered and saw no need to tell anyone.
But the moment she stepped out the hospital doors, a crowd materialized as if from nowhere, closing in on her fast.
“Sharon! You heartless murderer!” someone screamed. “Think you can bribe your way out of this and escape justice?”
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