Chapter 95
Carter looked at Sharon, his eyes deep and still as a midnight pond.
“Sharon, that phone number doesn’t belong to Kelly. And the person who sent those texts never claimed to be her. You can’t prove they came from her.”
Sharon answered calmly, “But who else besides Kelly would know you were the one who took Wendy? She asked to meet me at a café the day after Wendy went missing. She mentioned she knew Wendy’s whereabouts clearly in the texts. What-do you think Kelly and I are such good friends we’d just meet for coffee like that?”
Gazing down at her, Carter asked, “Are you sure Kelly really met you?”
Sharon nodded. “I’m sure.”
“Alright. I’ll have someone look into it right now.”
Once the investigation concluded, Carter brought Sharon to Kelly’s hospital room.
By then, Kelly had calmed down a bit. When Carter questioned her, she looked surprised. “Wasn’t it Sharon who asked to meet me at the café?”
Sharon froze. “I asked you?”
“Yes,” Kelly said, blinking. “You sent me a message asking to meet. You even said you chose a café downtown so I wouldn’t feel unsafe.”
She handed her phone, which had been sitting on the bedside table, to Carter. “The message you sent is still in here.”
Sharon stepped closer to look.
Sure enough, the text Kelly had received matched the ones Sharon had. The number was the same.
A quiet unease began to settle in Sharon’s chest.
Even though she had assumed the messages were from Kelly-and she had, in fact, met Kelly at the café-what Carter said earlier was true: the number didn’t belong to her.
There was no concrete evidence linking those texts directly to Kelly.
Still, one thing was undeniable-Kelly had shown up.
Carter had confirmed that too.
Just as Sharon was trying to sort out the implications, Nate, who had been sitting silently nearby, stood up. The truth, it seemed, could no longer be contained.
“I sent the messages,” he admitted. “It had nothing to do with Kelly.”
Kelly turned toward him, stunned. “Nate… why would you do that?”
“I just couldn’t stand watching Sharon anymore,” Nate said, bitterness in his voice. “I wanted to teach her a lesson. She’s been bullying Kelly ever since Kelly got back-pushing her into the water, sending her to the hospital. Then her friend comes to the hospital to humiliate Kelly, and Kelly ends up trying to take her own life and lands in the emergency room…
“That friend of hers just says sorry and walks away like nothing happened. And Kelly has to suffer all this? How is that fair?”
Nate’s voice was sharp now. “If Carter won’t punish the person who hurt Kelly, then I will. You all know the truth now. Do
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whatever you want with me.”
Kelly burst into tears.
“Carter, I know what Nate did was wrong. But he’s been taking care of me day and night while I’ve been sick. Can you give him a chance? And Wendy-she’s fine now, right? Can’t you ask Sharon to drop the case? Nate’s the only one by my side right now. If he goes to jail… what am I going to do?”
Kelly looked up at Carter with tear-filled eyes, her already delicate frame now seeming even more fragile, pitiful in a way that begged not to be turned away.
Carter’s eyes darkened. He turned to Sharon.
“What do
you think?”
Sharon stared back at him. “You’re not seriously asking me to let the person who hurt my friend walk free, are you?”
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