ONE WILD NIGHT

have turne

cond his face fi

onto his arm like a queen beside her king. The cameras loved them, shin

m, the ceiling light buzzing weakly above me, wra

h no one was there to hear. My thum

e tiny screen, calm but cruel, sl

ce Victoria Blackwell addressed the rumors of an alleged affair and pregnancy. Stone stro

nd there he was ag

ne anymore. Maybe

mouth said. His lips shaped t

is ey

on the balcony. They hadn't been cold then. They'd been searching, drow

er of guilt, the quick dart away from the lens. He couldn't

I sat down hard on

e saw me like this ,shaking, pale, staring at the screen as my

by a panel of commentators

avoided detai

e has no proof, this woman is finishe

name. But by tomorrow, everyone

e caught in blurry elevator camera shots. My hand resting on my s

d they believe him too? The billionaire with the perfect suit and diamond-ri

hands, but the images b

company when she couldn't sleep through the pain. Was she watching right now? Di

om, how are you feeling today? By the way, the father

ence. How long before kids at school showed him the headlines? Bef

urling in on myself, as if I cou

empty room. "I should've stayed home, studied,

ne moment I let myself feel, let

cost me e

else to see, but real to me. Beneath my palm, a life beat. Mine and his. A pi

or trusting him. For believing the man who once listened to me on the balcony,

el kept

te whether Miss Collins broke the student cond

thing I'd fought hardest for. Without that scholarship, I couldn't

, all because I'd believed

the room into silence. But silence was worse , it

ete them. Journalists, tabloids, strangers with opinions. Some cal

d my face into the pillow, smotherin

ng on me. Not with Jake needing me. Not with this t

od, i

ft me gasping like I was drowning. Just like he once said he was. Maybe we were

rolled onto my back an

grief, under the humiliation, a

in money or power. But I h

h would have

pered to the life inside me, "I don't know how yet. But

steadier, even whi

om. Jake. My professors. May

e real fight

k, hand resting on my stomach

cholarship, my reputation. B

the echo of Alex's denia

red if the night on the balcony