Dinner was about halfway through, and it seemed that the evening would pass without incident. The falling snow had put everyone in a jovial mood, and everyone was exchanging stories about winters from their childhood. And for the moment, all was forgotten, and there was only this moment. Even Clark seemed to have forgotten his bag of toys.
But then Nathan’s brow furrowed, and he turned to Crystal. “Why didn’t you answer my phone call from earlier?” His tone was cold. “And why didn’t you eat the medicine soup that was prepared for you? Do you think that you can get away from me? That is nuts, by the way. By now, you should know that I am not that easy to get rid of!” As he spoke, he reached forward and began to manhandle Crystal’s breasts.
Crystal was aghast. She shoved his hands away, and then she looked around th
Suddenly, a shadow fell across Crystal, and she looked up. It was Nathan, and he was offering her his hand. “Silly girl, it’s too cold to lie here. What are you thinking about?”“I was thinking about my father,” she lied. She knew that if she told him the truth - that she had been thinking about Carlos - it would ruin his good mood.“Were you thinking about your DNA test?” he asked.“I was,” Crystal lied again.Nathan took her cold hand, and when he realized how cold it was, he lifted his shirt and pressed it against his chest. “I could be your father until you find your real father,” he suggested. “I will make sure that you are always safe and warm.”
The next day, when Crystal discovered what Paul had done, she was furious.Crystal reread Paul’s post for the third or fourth time, and with each reading, her anger grew. Of all the ways that Paul could have drawn Nancy out of hiding, this was the most despicable.If Nancy did not show up at the courthouse, the public would see it as an admission of guilt. She had already lost their approval, and the only way to redeem herself would be to stand up for herself. Of course, if she did that, then she would be vulnerable.Until this moment, Nancy’s life had begun to show some improvement, and it was hard to believe how quickly things had turned to shit.Crystal pounded the table with her fist. “Eric must be involved in this,” she muttered. Betwee
Crystal had been taking a nap when Nancy started crying, and the noise woke her up. By the time she got to the stairs, though, Nancy, Noah, and Clark were hugging it out. She paused to catch the moment on film, and then she joined them.Nancy’s face turned red when she saw her friend. “I suppose you saw all of that….”“Not really.” Crystal shrugged. “But I’ve got a picture of you guys hugging. A blind man could see how much you love each other.”As Clark climbed onto the sofa to comfort Nancy, Crystal took out her cell phone and took a few more photos.“What’s with the photos?” Nancy asked.“I want to show the world what a happy life you&rsqu
Before going to bed, Crystal released the first series of photos and videos showing Clark having fun with his mother, and like all the media that went before them, they went viral. The snowball fight video was particularly touching, and by the morning, it was all that anyone was talking about.The tide of public opinion had turned once more, and once again, it was Paul’s word that people were suspicious of. Unfortunately, things were not as one-sided as they once were. The public was now divided between those who supported Paul and those who supported Nancy, and #TeamPaul and #TeamNancy was trending on all Social media. One thing about Paul’s followers, though, is that many of them were bots and those that were not had been misled by his propaganda.Paul had a tech-savvy team that supported him. They created fake news and made it go viral. They went
As chance would have it, Crystal saw the report about Michelle at the same time as Paul. Their reactions, though, were vastly different. By the time the segment had reached its conclusion, she was thinking - Some people might think we went too far, but I think that we did not go far enough. We should have killed her! If we had killed her and disposed of her body, we would not be in the position we are in now!Because Michelle was a public figure, her case would receive much more attention than it otherwise would have. But if there had been nobody, then there never would have been a story.Crystal was trying to think of ways to punish. Michelle - it would be hard with an ocean between them - when wolf began to bark, she went to the window, and she saw that Noah and Clark had been building a snowman in the backyard,
While Crystal was in the shower, Nathan picked up his cell phone and sent Vic a text message. “Has the bracelet been finished yet?” he asked.“It is done,” Vic replied. “I haven’t picked it up yet, though. Do you want me to pick it up now?”Nathan replied that he did, and as he put his phone away, he began to laugh. Crystal had escaped him before, but with what he had in mind, that would never happen again...****The next day, Crystal was rudely awoken by a hard tug at her wrist. Her eyes popped open, and when Nathan saw the startled look in her eyes, he burst into gales of laughter.“What’s this?” Crystal growled.
The black and white pieces glowed mysteriously in the glass cabinet.Could there really be such a strange medicine - Crystal wondered. It sounded more like magic than science to her, and she had never believed in the supernatural.The Auction Master continued. He said, “There are plenty of couples who want Cupid’s Arrow. Mostly, some have investigated this peculiar dr*g beforehand, and I admire the courage it takes to take your love to the next level!”Nathan gave Crystal’s hand a light squeeze as if to say,” I love you.” He leaned over and whispered into her ear. “Do you know why I brought you here?”
Much to Nathan’s surprise, Crystal picked up her piece of Cupid’s Arrow, popped it into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. His eyes lit up when she opened her mouth to show that it was empty, and the crowd stood up to give her a standing ovation.****Nancy was now standing by the windowsill. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the sun’s glow was reflected off the snow in a way that implied that everything was right with the world. From her perspective, though, it seemed that nothing was right with the world. She had just learned that Paul had poisoned Noah. That was what caused his heart problem, and it was unlikely that they would find an antidote.At this point, Crystal was her only hope. Crystal had a way of making the impossible possible. Nancy did not know how she did it, and she w