Better Off without You

"Give me the password to Peaches's account. I'm deleting it."

Outside the courthouse, Vicky Charleston chased after me, her voice clipped with command.

She'd always believed I ran the pet influencer page just to chase clout.

What she never saw was that every shot in my feed was of her. Every clip was one of our happiest moments together.

I handed over my phone and watched her tap [Delete Account] without a moment's hesitation.

Nearly a million followers vanished in an instant.

"If you keep it running, your obsessive fans will just go after Derek. Better to cut it off now than deal with the fallout later."

She waved the forged evidence in front of my face again, then tossed it straight into the trash.

The corner of her mouth curled into a satisfied smile, like someone who'd just won a battle.

Except the winner wasn't me.

Derek Charleston stood there holding Peaches's leash, leaning into Vicky's side, looking utterly harmless.

"Vicky, I promise this is the last time I'll be selfish."

Then he blinked at me, all wide-eyed and pleading.

"I just love Peaches so much. You're not mad at me, are you? Can't you just forgive me this once?"

He tilted his head, milking the moment for all it was worth, without a trace of guilt on his face.

Peaches was the Samoyed Vicky and I had raised together since she was a puppy.

She'd watched us go from strangers to soulmates to something that was supposed to last.

Eight full years.

Vicky had once told me, "Trey, we're keeping her for life. You're her dad, I'm her mom."

My hands curled into fists subconsciously.

Vicky only reached over and stroked the top of Derek's head, her voice going soft.

"You can have anything you want. It's just a dog."

The moment the account went dark, the fans lost their minds.

[Peaches has always belonged to the guy who runs this page. How is she suddenly someone else's dog?]

[This has to be a publicity stunt, right?]

[This guy's stealing the blogger's dog, and the lawyer wife is taking the thief's side?]

Derek looked visibly humiliated, so Vicky jumped online to smooth things over for him.

[My husband lost his mother young, and his father's in prison. It makes sense that he'd be starved for affection, which is why he's been clinging to my foster brother's dog.]

She laid my most painful history bare for an audience of strangers, like it was nothing.

The insults poured in on my phone, one after another.

Vicky walked off with her arm around Derek, the two of them laughing together.

"Peaches is so white. She looks just like you."

"Are you calling me a dog? You're the one who looks like a golden retriever."

She kept walking, getting smaller in the distance, never noticing that I was buying a plane ticket out of town.