Valerie Photographs of Drew and Laura were all over the page. The snapshots of contracts that Drew made his mistresses sign were splashed on the next page. The whole story I told Arnold was there! Aiden's and my name were kept anonymous, but the story of how Drew destroyed a woman was written precisely.He had even written about his sister and how cruelly Drew had hurt her. There were questions about how could a man do this and how much of a fool Laura was to not have known about all of this. There were even questions focused on her parents about how couldn't they have known all about it.The most eye-catching question to me was that Laura was to be blamed for the broken heart I carried. There was a whole article on me. Just me. No fucking Drew, nor Aiden. Just me. How did I feel about being used by two lovers who were in love with Laura but not me?“The love that she had thought to be hers was never hers, to begin with,” it said. Arnold had written about how I had felt and how lost
Valerie The revelation hit me like a seismic shock, an earthquake shaking the very foundations of my understanding. "It is your freaking secretary, Melanie!" Shay's words echoed in my mind, a refrain of disbelief that I couldn't shake off. Melanie, the sweet, cute, and understanding secretary who had been over the moon about Laura and Drew's wedding, was the architect of their impending downfall. The irony of it all was staggering. She had worshipped them as a couple, and now she was the one who had orchestrated their public humiliation. I sat there, my mind racing to process this unexpected betrayal. I had always considered Melanie an ally, someone who would be on Laura and Drew's side. The thought that she had played me, deceived me, left me double-shocked. I had anticipated backlash when the truth about my involvement in exposing Laura and Drew came out, but I never expected Melanie to be the one pulling the strings. "God, I think I need to sit down," I muttered to my dad as my
Valerie Sitting there with my dad I thought about my converstaion with him, the weight of his words still lingered heavily on my mind. It doesn't happen often where he opens up like that, setting out his vulnerabilities and regrets out in the open. But today he did and his words struck a chord deep within me."Val, you are happy right," he asked once again and for a second I just looked at him. "I am, dad," I paused. "I am way happier than what one can expect," I told him, and it was true because deep down I really was happy. Despite the stormy events that had occured, there was a strange sense of peace settling deep inside within me. At last the truth had been out and revealed, justice was served, and it felt like a burden was lifted from my shoulders. Drew's betryal and deception, Laura's salvation, and the support of all those who believed me, all of it contributed to a sense of relief, though it was filled with too many unexpected events. My dad's gentle smile and pat pat on the
Aiden The annoying shrilling noise of my phone sliced through the early morning silence, jolting me from my slumber sleep. My hand moved in the darkness, searching blindly for the phone. I swear I was looking at it later night. It was supposed to be on my bed somewhere. Finally, my fingers closed around the phone, and as I picked it up my eyes squinted looking at the screen, still bleary-eyed from sleep. I swear to god if it was Drew, I was going to bury him somewhere but if it was some spam caller I was going to ruin that company. However when I looked clearly at the screen I realized that it was Travis. His name flashed insistently, cutting through the haze of confusion that enveloped my mind because of sleep. Why on earth would he be calling me at this ungodly hour? Then it hit me out of the blue that he would only be calling me because of Laura. My heart lurched with sudden dread and worry. Had something happened to Laura? The thought put me into action immediately, and without
Aiden The echoing roar of Laura's voice echoed through the mansion as I stepped into the living room after Travis. The morning paper, stained with the drips of the coffee someone had spat out upon reading it, lay in scatter at the table. The shock of seeing the news about the affairs in black and white on newsprint was enough to make me want to spill the contents of my stomach. the more I read, the more my anger rose. The story written on the paper was just not about the writer's harship or of Valerie; it was a damning exposure on Drew and his affiars. He had been having numerous of affairs and engaing in them even now. I knew he was betraying Laura's trust. Val, knew all about of his infidelity, was a target of his gfea, he had tried to keep her mouth shut. Drew had even dared to manipulate me, saygn that all he wanted was to protect Laura from the harsh realilty and Val, but it was all a lie to save himself and not feel guilty. The revelation of him termination his own child left
Aiden I stood there, stunned and powerless, as the events unfolded in front of me like a tragic play, each scene more disastarous and powerful than the last. The shockwaves from the booming sound of a hand connecting with skin echoed through the room, leaving an unsettling silence in its awake. I was going to put some sense into Drew, but Laura's father beat me to it. Laura's father had always been Drew's advocate, standing by his side in every situation, even when Laura herself couldn't muster the strength to do so. But now, in this moment, that loyalty came out in a physical blow, a desperate attempt to confront the truth that had been lurking in the shadows for far too long. Ira, Laura's mother, broke the heavy silence with a question that hung in the air like a storm cloud. "You have met her?" she asked, her gaze piercing through the room. Even I too stood there shocked knowing that he had met Valerie. Silently, I observed Laura's father, he was still reeling from the shocking
Aiden "Are you going to answer?" Ira's voice boomed in the hall. Laura's father just tsood there looking at her almost on the verge of tears. "Because I have seen the proof now. It was hard to believe, okay?" he tried to hold himself but I could see that he too was breaking under the accusatory gaze of his wife. "I just thought she was just some crazy shitty woman who wanted Drew and his money and was spreading rumours, but I was wrong. As I looked at the things that were sent off to Laura, everything clicked in the right place and I understood that things were not how always thought them to be." He didn't stutter this time but there was an underlying fear in his voice. "If you would have just told me about this and Val's rumours, this, right now wouldn't have happened. Unlike you, I wouldn't have just pushed it away! I would have gotten to the bottom of it, unlike you, who just shut it all away by believing in that asshole who stands right there!" Her fingers pointed towards Dr
Aiden "Travis!" Laura and Ira both screamed at the same time, but it wasn't of any use. Both of their screams fell on deaf ears because Travis couldn't damn hear anything in his rage and anger. His first fist punch came out of the blue for me and hit me right under my right eye. I couldn't evade it at all and when his fist connected with my face it hurt so bad that all I could hear was ringing in my ears. "Oh, God," I heard someone say but I couldn't see who it was. The pain I was going through was much more than anything I had ever felt. I tried to evade his attack, to move away from him, to bring some distance between us but it was of no use because Travis' fists came one after another like he was fucking machine. He didn't stop for a second. Moreover, there was no use in stopping them because in the end, he wouldn't. Those punches were coming straight from a father, whose daughter I had hurt the most. "Goddammit. Stop it, Travis!" Ira roared, screaming at the rop of her lungs, ma