\u00a0<\/p>\n
10 Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
10 Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
The color drained from Chloe\u2019s face. Ethan\u2019s gaze flickered between us, a dawning, horrifying\u00a0<\/p>\n
comprehension in his eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chloe burst into fresh, loud sobs. \u201cIt\u2019s fake! She\u2019s setting me up! She\u2019s jealous, Ethan! She hates me!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She clung to him, burying her face in his jacket. \u201cTake me home, I\u2019m so humiliated\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan looked from her shaking shoulders to my stoic, unyielding face. I saw the conflict-the old habit of comforting her warring with the\u00a0<\/p>\n
undeniable evidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He gently, firmly, pried her arms from around\u00a0<\/p>\n
him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could speak, I moved. I slapped him, hard, across the face. The crack echoed in the\u00a0<\/p>\n
silent room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
10 Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
:.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren-\u201d he stammered, hand to his cheek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I picked up a half-full glass of merlot from a passing tray and threw it in his face. The red liquid dripped down his stunned expression onto his white shirt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew,\u201d I said, my voice trembling not with tears, but with a final, purging fury. \u201cYou knew last year she was lying. You\u2019ve always known. And you let her do it. You let them all think I was a\u00a0<\/p>\n
monster. You stood there and watched.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He reached for me, his face a mess of wine and regret. \u201cNo, I didn\u2019t, I swear-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped back, out of his reach. A single, hot tear escaped, tracing a path through my makeup. I swiped it away angrily. \u201cThe slap is returned. The debt is clear. Now get out of my sight. Both of\u00a0<\/p>\n
you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned and walked away, leaving the whispers and the stares behind me. I didn\u2019t look back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
10 Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
That night, a storm rolled in. Rain lashed against my windows. A *crack* made me jump-a pebble hitting the glass. Then, a voice, faint over the downpour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren! Please! I need to explain!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pulled back the curtain. There, in the driving rain, knelt Ethan on my parents\u2019 manicured lawn, soaked to the bone. \u201cI\u2019m sorry! Just let me talk to you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched for a moment, his figure blurred by the rain on the glass. Then I let the curtain fall and called the police to report a trespasser causing a disturbance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sirens came. He was led away, protesting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I heard he caught pneumonia. Was hospitalized. In his fever, he called out for me, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His mother, a kind woman who had always been on my side, called my parents. She didn\u2019t ask, she *begged*. \u201cJust for a moment. He needs to see\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
10 Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
Out of respect for her, and only for her, I went.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chloe was the guard dog at his hospital room door. \u201cYou!\u201d she spat. \u201cThis is your fault! He wouldn\u2019t be here if you weren\u2019t such a heartless\u00a0<\/p>\n
witch!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was about to turn and leave, a perfect excuse,\u00a0<\/p>\n
when I heard a crash from inside the room. Ethan\u2019s voice, raw and ragged: \u201cLauren? Is that you? Don\u2019t go\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mrs. Carter arrived then. She ignored Chloe completely, taking my arm. \u201cFive minutes, dear. For me.\u201d I nodded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside, the room was dim. Ethan looked terrible- pale, thin, dark circles under his eyes. Mrs. Carter left, pulling a protesting Chloe out with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second the door clicked shut, Chloe\u00a0<\/p>\n
wriggled free and darted back in, planting herself between me and the bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
10 Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet out!\u201d she screeched. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t want you here!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d had enough. I swung my leather tote bag and hit her across the face with it. Once. Twice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three times. She shrieked, stumbling. I kicked her legs out from under her, then picked up the bowl of grapes from his bedside table and dumped\u00a0<\/p>\n
them on her head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She lay there, stunned, then began to howl, crawling toward Ethan. \u201cEthan! Look what she\u00a0<\/p>\n
did!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan didn\u2019t look at her. His eyes were locked on me, huge and sorrowful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fate Rolls Dark by Mark Twain 10 \u00a0 10 Chapter 10\u00a0 10 Chapter 10\u00a0 The color drained from Chloe\u2019s face. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gave-up-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21979\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}