She was blushing so hard it was almost
comical.
Chad was just looking at her so lovingly.
People nearby were whispering how perfect
they were.
<
The reporter was grinning from ear to ear.
Just as everything was going smoothly, the
young doctor arrived.
He started to give the story Chad and Lily had
told him, but halfway through, the cops
pushed through the crowd.
“Excuse me, are you Lily Davis and Chad
Reynolds?”
After they confirmed their identities, Lily and
Chad were slapped with handcuffs.
The police hauled them away for questioning.
The whole scene was caught on camera.
That’s when the young doctor flipped.
<
He spilled the beans about how Chad and Lily
had tried to get him to take the fall. He even
had a recording of their conversation and
played it right then and there.
Lily looked like she’d just realized her life was
over.
She turned to Chad, her eyes filling with
tears.
Chad saw me in the crowd, wheeled up in a
chair. He grabbed the handles.
“Did you do this?”
I just smiled. So what if I did? I was just
telling the truth.
<
After they were taken away, the reporter
frantically tried to wrap things up.
I rolled up and grabbed the microphone,
looking at the reporter and saying, “The
interview was supposed to be two hours long,
right? It hasn’t ended yet, so you don’t want
to hear what I have to say.”
The reporter had probably seen those
memorial pictures online.
She hesitated for a second and said, “Do you
have something you’d like to share?”
“I have a lot I want to share!”
After getting the go–ahead from her boss,
they all sat down, hooked me up with a mic,
and signaled for me to start.
L
I had a whole hour left.
I told them everything: how Chad had found
me alive after the quake but still buried me.
How Lily was always calling Chad away, even
after Chad and I were married, just so she
could spend time with him.
I laid out my whole history with Chad, the ten
years we’d been together, dating and married.
At first, the Chad and Lily fans were hostile.
They thought that if Chad didn’t love me, I
should just leave him alone. They gossiped
behind my back as I was giving my interview.
But as I shared my story, I could hear people
enving
If you’re tearing up just hearing it, what do
you expect from me, the one who lived
through it for ten years? What makes you
think I should forgive them?
He was holding Lily in a cozy room, watching
a movie, while I was arranging my parents‘
funerals alone.
I went to the hospital again and again, hoping
to have our child.
But then I saw his phone. He promised Lily he
wouldn’t have kids with me, so he was
secretly slipping me birth control pills.
It messed up my body so bad that my period
was all over the place, and my chances of
getting pregnant were low.
L
I didn’t get to tell any of this last time.
This time, I wanted everyone to know.
When I was done, the room was silent.
Even the reporter didn’t know what to ask.
She just looked at me with pity.
As the nurse wheeled me away, a few fans
quietly apologized.
I ignored them.
I wouldn’t forgive anyone who had been so
cruel to me online, just because they said
“sorry.”
Back in my room, I got two weeks of peace
and quiet
<
I heard that Chad took the fall for everything
to protect his darling Lily.
The rescue team put out a statement about
Chad’s negligence and officially fired him.
The attempted murder charge didn’t stick, but
they did establish that his negligence had
almost led to my death.
His parents, who had made things difficult
when my parents died and wouldn’t help me
find a good lawyer, hired an expensive lawyer
as soon as their son was in trouble.
Then they found me.
I had just finished physical therapy. My legs
could barely walk, but I was practicing in the
hallway.
Chad’s mom, Karen, stormed up to me and
slapped me.
I almost fell. Some nurses caught me just in
time, stopping my wound from ripping open
again.
“You bitch! The Reynolds family treated you
so well, and you call the cops on my son!”
“He’s your husband! How can you be so
heartless? I never liked you! If my son hadn’t
been so hung up on you, Lily would’ve been
my daughter–in–law years ago.”
She had always liked Lily.
The first time I met his parents, Karen had
invited Lily over to put me in my place.
<
She made me do all the chores while she
chatted with Lily about everything.
I was on my period and didn’t want to wash
the dishes. She smiled and said it was fine,
but then she went back to Chad and told him
everything.
I grabbed Chad’s phone to send his mom a
holiday gift.
That’s when I saw her telling Chad, “Even if
Lily’s parents don’t approve, all you have to
do is get Lily pregnant. Then they’ll have to
agree. Lily is so much better than that trash
you found!”
To her, I was just trash.
I didn’t have a successful career yet, and my
parents didn’t have much money. I could
never compare to Lily.
She had never been as rude to me as she was
today.
She pointed at me and said, “You better write
that statement right now. Otherwise, you’ll
regret it.”
The statement was like the one Chad had
written to forgive Lily after I died.
Every word made me sick to my stomach.
“Sign it now!”
She pulled out a pen, and Chad’s dad closed
the door.
I had the feeling that I wouldn’t be leaving
until I signed.
1 threw the pen down. “No way!”
Her eyes went wide, like she wanted to tear
me to pieces.
That’s when she started shaking, like she was
having a seizure. Chad’s dad pulled out a
special medicine that Lily’s family had given
them.
I laughed when I saw the bottle.
“What are you laughing at? How can you be
so heartless? You’re laughing at your mother-
in–law! Do you even have a heart?”
