Chapter 3

As soon as I finished, I turned to leave. But Caitlyn's next words stopped me in my tracks.

"Think about those photos. Do you want them to see the light of day?"

I froze for a moment before turning back. Looking at Caitlyn's cold face, I suddenly remembered her at nineteen, holding my bruised, battered body and crying so hard she shook all over.

Back then, her autism was severe. I chased after her three times a day, trying to get her to eat and take her medicine. Fed up, she hid from me.

I followed her to a street corner and was dragged into an alley. They clamped their hands over my mouth and nose and molested me. I couldn't see any light, and I couldn't even count how many of them there were.

When she found me, she completely lost it. She kept saying sorry over and over, insisting she would take care of everything.

Later, she clasped my hand, looked me in the eyes, and swore that those men had been dealt with and the photos had all been destroyed. From then on, her whole life would belong to me.

But now, for Scott's sake, she was using my wounds to threaten me.

Seeing me stunned, Caitlyn pushed down the reluctance in her eyes and coaxed me softly, as if making a promise.

"Just post something and leave the rest to me. We'll get our license, get married, and have kids. You'll still be my husband..."

"And if I say no?"

"Think about your parents. Your dad has a bad heart..."

She didn't finish, but she didn't need to.

That night, neither of us spoke. She knew I would give in, just as she knew that every time we fought, I was always the one who swallowed my pride and went back to her.

The next morning, the moment I turned on my phone, the screen was flooded with headlines in bold letters calling Scott Burdett a homewrecker who'd knowingly two-timed his fiancée.

Before I could process any of it, Caitlyn kicked the door open. "Charles, Scott's your childhood friend. How could you smear him like this? How could you ruin his reputation?"

Her eyes were bloodshot. Without giving me a chance to explain, she dragged me to Baird General Hospital.

When I got out of the car, I banged my knee on the door and cried out in pain. She didn't even slow down.

Watching her rush ahead, I suddenly wanted to laugh. She was gripping my hand so tightly, so warmly. Yet I felt like I was falling into an abyss.

The lobby had already been set up for a press conference. Scott sat on the stage in silence, hunched over, the corners of his eyes red.

Caitlyn's heart ached for him. She shoved me toward the reporters and rushed over to him.

Countless microphones were thrust in my face.

"Mr. McWherther, Dr. Burdett says you were molested years ago and that it left you psychologically twisted. Is that why you stormed out in a rage yesterday?"

"We heard you've been clinging to Dr. Harp even though you knew she and Dr. Burdett were in love, that you kept trying to seduce her and deliberately set out to be the other man. Is that true?"

"You and Dr. Burdett are childhood friends, as close as brothers. Stealing his woman like this... Mr. McWherther, do you have no shame at all?"

My blood felt like it was on fire, the heat rushing all the way to my head. I glared at Caitlyn in shock.

She'd promised me she would never breathe a word about what happened. So how did Scott know?

Before I could figure it out, the childhood friend who'd sworn to repay me looked at me and suddenly smiled.

The next second, the giant screen behind me lit up. It was filled with my pale face and my body covered in finger-shaped bruises.