Chapter 74
“Heh. So what if you’ve got the title of Mrs. Biggs?” Nate sneered, lips curling with disdain. “You think it means anything? Believe it or not, if Kelly so much as whispers that she’s scared, Carter would drop everything and show up at her door in the middle of the night.
“When he comes home-or if he comes home at all-depends entirely on when Kelly wants him gone. These past few weeks, I’m guessing he hasn’t been back much, has he? You wanna know where he’s been? With Kelly. Taking care of her. And it’s just a cold, too, but even that’s got him completely on edge.
“Even your own son’s glued to her side, fussing over her, calling you the reason she got sick in the first place. Won’t be long now before Kelly replaces you and becomes Theo’s new mom.”
With that, Nate cast a triumphant glance at Sharon, then turned and strutted off like a victorious rooster.
“This is ridiculous!” Wendy snapped, nearly shaking with anger as she made to go after Nate, but Sharon stopped her with a
calm hand.
“Let it go, Wendy,” she said, not a trace of emotion on her face. “No need to stoop to the level of some brainless simp. I’m already working with a lawyer. The divorce will be done soon. Then I’ll finally be free.”
Wendy was fuming. “You’ve given so much to Carter and Theo. All these years, all that effort-and now you walk away with nothing. It’s not fair!”
Sharon gave a faint, almost serene smile. “It’s fine. Starting over now isn’t too late. At the very least, he taught me this much- there’s no one more reliable than yourself.”
A few mornings later, Sharon’s phone rang unexpectedly. It was John.
“Sharon, did you talk to Wendy today?”
“No,” Sharon replied, her brow knitting. “Why?”
John hesitated a moment. “She found a few decent studio spaces and asked me to check them out with her yesterday. But this morning, I couldn’t reach her. I’m getting worried, so I thought I’d ask if she contacted you.”
Something in his tone unsettled her. “Worried? You think something happened to her?”
John’s voice dropped. “Last time we met up, that guy Nate suddenly showed up and started saying a bunch of nasty things. Insulting you, mostly. He went on and on in front of Wendy, bragging about how great Carter treats Kelly. Told her if she didn’t believe it, she should go see for herself.”
Sharon was quiet, but listening closely. John and Wendy had always been friends of hers, and they’d grown familiar with each other over time. John knew Wendy well enough to trust his gut.
“I started to feel uneasy,” John continued, “so I went to the hospital to ask around. That’s when I heard –Kelly tried to kill herself last night.”
Sharon froze. “What does that have to do with Wendy?”
John hesitated again, then spoke slowly. “I heard Wendy visited Kelly at the hospital yesterday. Apparently… she said some harsh things.”
Sharon’s expression darkened. “I’ll look into it.”
“If Kelly’s suicide has anything to do with Wendy, Carter might not let this slide so easily,” John said quietly.
Sharon’s eyes narrowed. “Wendy isn’t the kind of person who lashes out without reason. I don’t believe she’d seek out Kelly just
1/2
to cause trouble. And besides. ”
There was a cold glint in her eyes, like moonlight reflecting off still water.
“It a few words from Wendy were enough to make Kelly feel unworthy of living, then maybe she should’ve thought twice before getting involved with a married man.” T
John tried to soften the tension in his voice. “I could be wrong. Maybe Wendy just had something urgent come up and didn’t have time to tell me. She is your friend, after all-Carter might not do anything to her.”
Sharon said nothing.
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