Chapter 4

The house was empty when my friend drove me home from the hospital.

"Mom?" I called out, but no one answered.

I plopped down on the couch. I took out my phone to call her, but no sooner had the screen lit up than a notification from my social media's "Near You" feature popped up.

"Famous Blogger Dean Sullivan Reveals His Best Friend's Mom's Dirty Secret!"

"Family Trait? A Homewrecker's Son Carries Out Her Legacy!"

Dean's profile picture lingered at the most obvious spot. He'd posted a long, vicious rant. "Some people are born with the need to take what belongs to others. He was my best friend, but who could've thought his mother was a homewrecker with a streak?

"It's no wonder he… Well, I'd hate to describe my best friend as such."

He'd attached evidence to the post, too, including screenshots of fabricated conversations, blurry images of bank transactions, and even a photo of a marriage certificate between my dad and someone else.

Denigrating remarks flooded the comment section.

"Holy crap, Dean has it rough! He's got a snake for a buddy."

"Like mother, like son. It's no wonder he clings to another man's girlfriend. I ran into Dean and his girlfriend the other day at an escape room, and the guy was hovering behind them, stalking them!"

"I say we expose the mother and son's home address!"

My blood ran cold, and my hand trembled even as it clutched the phone.

Years ago, Dad, Peter Huntley, threw a grand wedding and duped Mom into marrying him, but he'd always make up excuses to delay getting their marriage certificate.

It wasn't until his actual wife showed up one day with a marriage certificate that Mom realized she'd been made into a homewrecker. The actual wife had brought an entourage with her and caused a scene in the neighborhood, lifting banners and vandalizing Mom's house.

Mom broke down, and out of desperation, she swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills.

I guarded her bedside at the hospital day and night, nursing her back from death.

I'd only ever told one person about Mom's story. Aimee was the only one who knew about it.

Shaking all over, I called Aimee.

"Nathan, have you calmed down?"

"What's with the trending topic?" I demanded.

There was a beat of silence on the other line. "You smashed Dean's camera, and he wouldn't stop crying. I had no choice but to tell him Janice's story to cheer him up. I didn't expect him to put it online."

I hissed through gritted teeth, "Make him delete it."

Aimee sighed. "I'll say yes to anything you ask but that. Dean's a blogger. If he deletes the post, he may as well confess to making up rumors. Are you trying to ruin him?

"The topic will die off in a few days. Plus, people online will forget about it soon. As for Janice, everything's already in the past. She doesn't go on the Internet, and at her age, the post won't cause her any harm at all…"

I stopped listening to Aimee and hung up.

I made one frantic call after another to Mom, but her phone had been switched off. All I could think of was the hopeless look in her eyes before she swallowed all those sleeping pills years ago, and that was enough to make me break into a run toward the rooftop.

"Mom!" I got on my knees and reached for her. "Mom, get down from there, please! I'm begging you! Come down!"

Mom shook her head, a bitter smile curving her mouth. "Even when I'm gone, you'll still have Aimee. She makes mistakes sometimes, but I know she truly loves you. She'll take good care of you, Nathan."

"No, that's not true!" I screamed, agony and desperation edging my voice. "Aimee's the one behind all this! She doesn't love me. She only cares about Dean!"

Upon hearing this, Mom froze. Her moment of hesitation was all I needed to lunge forward and pull her into safety.

Mom pulled me into a tight embrace, sobbing, "My poor Nathan! I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I misjudged Aimee!"

I buried my face in the crook of her neck. "Let's get out of here, Mom."

When we got home, I packed all our documents and essentials in a suitcase as fast as possible. Then, I hailed a cab to take us to the airport.

From now on, Aimee wouldn't be on any of the paths I took.