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Chapter 98
“You have your position, and I understand that. I’m not blaming you,” Sharon said quietly, her expression calm. “Julliard, I have something else to do. Goodbye.”
“Sharon-”
Julliard tried to speak, but she didn’t give him the chance. Without a word, she turned and walked away, pulling Wendy along
with her.
Wendy glanced at Sharon, then back at Julliard, left behind in silence.
“Sharon, did he come here just for you?” she asked, unable to hide the curiosity. “When did you and Julliard get that close?”
Sharon said, “When I found out you were taken by Carter, I went to the hospital to confront Carter. I ran into Julliard there. After I told him why I came, he said he could help track you down.”
She paused, something cold and fluid flashing through her eyes.
“Turns out… he was waiting for me on purpose.”
Wendy frowned. “On purpose?”
Sharon went on to explain everything that had happened-how the meeting had played out, what was said, and what wasn’t. “It was probably Carter’s idea.”
Wendy’s eyes narrowed as she listened. “Sharon, I think you might be misunderstanding Julliard.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“Think about it. Even if you’d found Carter, and even if he denied everything, you couldn’t have done anything to him. So why bother setting up this whole thing and have Julliard wait there for you? And maybe… Julliard really didn’t find where I was being
held.”
She looked Sharon in the eye, voice steady.
“Or maybe he did, but couldn’t get me out, so he didn’t say anything yet. I mean, doesn’t it seem strange? Why would Carter suddenly go soft-let me go just like that after I apologized to Kelly? My guess is, Julliard must’ve said something to him behind the scenes. Maybe that’s what made Carter stop short of going too far. Sharon, I really think you should talk to him. If I really got out that easily because of his help, it’d be unfair to hold this kind of grudge.”
Sharon hesitated.
Wendy had a point.
Just because Julliard hadn’t explained everything didn’t mean he hadn’t tried.
She’d made assumptions. Because of Carter, she’d projected that mistrust onto Julliard too.
“You’re right,” Sharon said. “If I get the chance, I’ll talk to him.”
Wendy was just about to ask if Sharon wanted to go see the new apartment together when Sharon’s phone suddenly rang.
“Hello? Is this Theo Biggs’s mother? Your child had a disagreement with another kid at kindergarten. Could you come in for a moment?”
Sharon blinked, caught off guard for a moment.
Theo’s mother.
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Ever since she had a child, it was like she no longer had a name of her own.
She was either Theo’s mother-or Mrs. Biggs.
“I’m sorry,” Sharon said lightly. “You’ve got the wrong number.”
There was a pause on the other end. “Wrong number? Aren’t you Theo’s mom?”
“No. I’m just the Biggs family’s nanny.’
Before the teacher could respond, Sharon ended the call.
But before she could put the phone down, it rang again.
“Hello, are you Matty Cooper’s guardian? Something’s happened. Could you come in?”
Sharon’s brow furrowed slightly. “What happened to Matty?”
“He got into a fight with another student. He’s injured… please come as soon as you can.”
Her expression shifted. “I’ll be right there.”
After hanging up, she gave Wendy a quick explanation and rushed toward the kindergarten.
The kindergarten was a long way off. By the time Sharon arrived, forty minutes had already passed.
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