Twenty-Five
T HE ANATOMY OF VIRAL posts on social media always started with a fork in the road - those that were meant to inspire positive feelings...and those that weren't. The happy ones: anything from cat videos to stories of Good Samaritans and the proverbial prodigal son - these almost always had an organic reach while the not-so-happy ones generated likes through paid boosts and advertising behind the scenes. The ones that inspire rarely had a quantifiable objective in mind while the other type almost always had a target.
The one thing both types of viral posts had in common was how it caused people to inevitably expose their true colors. Good or bad, posts were shared by people because it made them feel.
Some posts inspired people to become better, and they wanted others to become better, too.
Some posts made people feel envy, and misery always loved company.
And then there was that last kind of post.
Posts that were meant to hurt, to humiliate, and ruin other people's lives.
People shared these posts, too.
Even if they didn't have to, even if they had to lie to themselves and conceal their trails through private messages -
Sometimes, people couldn't just help themselves.
****
I T STARTED AS A FAIRLY ordinary Sunday morning for the Joneses. While the continued absence of Acheron in their household was hard to miss and had long cast an unshakable pall over the whole family, everyone still did their best to find a reason to smile. Their family was no stranger to hardships, and no matter how things would eventually turn out between Acheron and Pippi they all knew they would be able to survive it.
What mattered was that they were together, and together they were unbeatable.
"Are you really going to wear that to church?" Rue asked with a wrinkle of her nose.
Pippi rechecked her appearance on the mirror with a frown. "What's wrong with it?" She just had on her usual loose blouse and slacks, and they seemed imminently presentable to her.
It screams 'I'm so heartbroken I don't care how I look anymore', Pippi's youngest sister thought. But because even she knew it was just too soon to say such a thing, she cleared her throat and tried to be diplomatic instead. "We're going to the beach after, remember?"
Oh. Right. A strained smile flitted over Pippi's lips at the thought of being surrounded with azure skies, clear waters, and soft white sand. Isla de Flores' postcard-perfect beaches might be a balm for the soul for others, but right now the mere thought of immersing in herself with such beauty made Pippi felt sick.
The mood she was in, she wanted her surroundings to reflect the emptiness in her, wanted to just curl up in a ball under the covers and pretend that everything was still okay between her and Acheron.
Having this huge, incomprehensible distance between them hurt so much that her mind had deliberately shied away from counting the days that had passed since she last saw him. Maybe, if a part of her had expected things to go downhill this soon and this drastically - maybe losing him wouldn't hurt as much.
But because the sudden change in Acheron's attitude had completely blindsided her, Pippi found herself lost and grasping for an explanation - any explanation was fine. Anything, that is, except what was right under her nose, demanding to be acknowledged.
Could he have really left her just like that, like nothing they shared meant a thing to him?
And all because he had spent one second too long in Amelia's company and realized the other woman was and would always be the love of her life?
Why, Acheron? Why?
Why act like he could give Pippi his heart when he had never gotten it back in the first place?
Just the thought of it was near enough to cripple her, and Pippi unconsciously reached for the bedpost, fearing she would fall if she didn't hold on to it for dear life. She turned to Rue, her gaze just a little blurred, and her voice just a little hoarse as she asked clumsily, "Do you think Mom would m-mind if I skipped..."
Rue quickly turned away and lowered her head as she began rummaging through her bag like she was looking for something. "I don't think she'd mind at all," she mumbled. "But it would make everyone worry." While speaking, she kept her gaze fixed on her bag the whole time, knowing that if she ever saw Pippi's tears start to fall, it would be the end of her, too.
"I...see."
Rue heard Pippi's voice crack, and she bit her lip hard. I can't cry. I mustn't. I can't ever cry when I know Pippi's hurting more.
Her head still down, she blindly groped for her sister's hand and giving it a tight, hard squeeze, she said fiercely, "You'll get through this, Pi. But we have to do it together."
"I absolutely agree," a voice that wasn't Pippi murmured, "especially since it's my hand you're holding and not Pi's."
Rue looked up at that, and that was when she saw herself holding Vik's hand and Pippi doing her best not to laugh.
"What - how?"
"You tell me," Vik said dryly. "I just came back to get my phone when you suddenly grabbed my—-" She didn't bother finishing her sentence, with Pippi and Rue having already lost the battle to keep a straight face. The sound of their giggles was infectious, and soon Vik had joined in the laughter as well.
Rue was right , Pippi thought as she followed her sisters down the stairs. At the end of the day, she still had her family, and together they could get past anything.
Together.
A simple word, a powerful word, and as the day unfolded, it also became a word Pippi would find herself clinging to as her life came crashing down.
****
P IPPI'S FIRST INKLING that something was wrong came as soon as she and the rest of the family stepped out of front door, and they saw Mrs. Mullan from across the street watching them from her living room window.
"Morning, Mrs. M," Mynt chirped with a wave.
The widow waved back even as a sad smile slowly formed over her lips.
"Is it Mr. M's death anniversary today?" Pippi asked under her breath even as she smiled and waved at the older woman as well.
"Nope," Great-Aunt Alice answered. "That was last month."
Then why did Mrs. M look so sad, Pippi wondered as they started walking. She was still mulling this over and wondering if it would be a good idea to invite the old lady to join them for a day at the beach when they made it to the church...and found most everyone acting oddly.
The faces around them were familiar, all of them locals just like the Joneses, and yet...
Pippi tried to catch the eye of a former high school classmate of hers, but the other girl deliberately avoided her gaze. Most others were doing the same while there were a few who were downright glaring at her.
What in the world was wrong with everyone?
She looked at her sisters and saw that they, too, along with Astrid and her three great-aunts were all wearing the same perplexed expressions on their faces.
It was only when they were about to take their usual place at the last pew in the rightmost aisle that the puzzle pieces started falling into place. Mrs. Richards, a wealthy woman who took exceptional pride in the fact that her great-great-grandfather was one of the town's founding members, was suddenly blocking their way.
"I'm so very sorry," the woman murmured.
And yet she didn't sound sorry at all , Pippi couldn't help noting.
"But don't you think this is highly inappropriate, considering the circumstances?" Mrs. Richards' meaningful gaze fell on Astrid when she spoke, which left Pippi's mother frowning in genuine confusion.
"If you have to say," Great-Aunt Alice said imperiously, "then just say it."
Mrs. Richards struggled to keep her smile in place. "That would be rather crass, but if you insist, perhaps I should..." She took her phone out of her bag. "If you really think this is necessary?"
Pippi's gaze narrowed at the malice that glittered in the older woman's eyes. She was savoring this moment , Pippi realized. She was looking forward to something...but what?
"Is AirDrop okay?" Mrs. Richards asked in a dulcet tone.
They all said yes, and a moment later, Pippi and her sisters' phones started vibrating, and that was when it happened: the beginning of the end, and no one had seen it coming.
Astrid shook her bag in a fit of frustration, but its contents remained the same and she bit back a resigned sigh when she realized she had left her phone in her bedroom again. "I forgot my phone." She looked up, and that was when she saw how all of her daughters had turned white. "What's happening?"
No one answered.
Since Vik stood closest to her, Astrid tried to reach for her phone first, insisting, "Let me see." But to Astrid's shock Vik backed away from her, phone clutched to her chest.
And that was when it hit her.
"It's me," Astrid said flatly. " Whatever it is - it's about me . Isn't it?"
****
A CHERON WAS AT HIS desk when Wickham came striding in unannounced, an ominous look on his weathered face. "You remember when you asked cyber security to monitor any online activity concerning Ms. Jones and her family?"
The billionaire stiffened. "Have we been found out?"
"It's worse." Wickham placed the printout of the report emailed to him by the company's cyber security division.
What in hell could be worse than the world fucking Pippi's life up just because she had been foolish enough to date him?
He reached for the printout and had his answer in just a few seconds.
FUCK.
It was an anonymously posted exposé about Astrid Jones' affair with a married man and written in such a way that readers were meant to see Pippi's mother as both a home-wrecker and gold-digger. According to the post, Dolph McTavish, a businessman from Chicago, was a happily married man and father of three when he and Astrid happened to share the same flight to Miami.
It had every indication of being a paid character assassination , Acheron realized sickly, and even though his team only had preliminary results to share, he already knew that what his guts were telling him was real.
One way or another, this could and would be traced back to him, and Astrid had merely been caught in the crossfire.
People who love us only end up getting hurt.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
The glass surface of Acheron's desk shattered into pieces at the violently forceful crash of his fist, and Wickham flinched. "Acheron—-" Bleak dark eyes turned to his, and for one painful moment, it was like seeing Acheron back when he was sixteen, and the boy had no one in the world.
"Amelia was right," Acheron said tonelessly.
The older man started shaking his head in protest. "Don't think like that—-"
"There's no other way to think about this," Acheron gritted out. "This is my fault, and it happened because I didn't have the balls to let her go."
****
P IPPI KNOCKED ON THE door to Astrid's room. "Mom?" She waited for Astrid to answer like she used to - gaily calling her out to come in, but there was just silence, and she wanted to cry.
My fault , she thought. This is my fault.
She tried the knob, and it turned easily under her fingers. Stepping inside, she found the room dark and silent, the curtains drawn. Astrid was a child of the sun, she loved the warmth and heat of it, and now her mother was acting like she no longer deserved to see the light of day.
Astrid was seated on the edge of her bed, her lovely face wan and tear-stained. But at the sight of her eldest daughter, she readily summoned a smile. "What is it?"
It was just like Astrid to be so strong, to not say a single word even though she must have an inkling that this could only have something to do with Pippi.
She swallowed hard. Oh God, what was there to say?
"Pi? What is it? Is anything wrong?"
The concern in Astrid's voice was unmistakable, and this was just so like her, too, with the way she always placed everyone else's needs above hers—-
It was just too much, and before Pippi could even think of what to do, she was already running, falling into her knees with a sob as she took her mother's hands in hers.
"I'm so sorry, Mom."
"Oh, hon."
She felt Astrid lay a comforting hand on the top of her head, and she wept harder. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, baby."
"But it is. You know it is. We all know it is." Between sobs, she told Astrid of how she something in her had just snapped and she found herself coming into the defense of Acheron's ex-lover. "I can't prove it yet, but I know - those women are behind this, and it's not fair - it's n-not right that they'd go after you—-" Her voice broke anew. "I'm so sorry, Mom."
The sound of her daughter's weeping hurt, and yet in a way, it also gave Astrid the strength to ignore her own pain. Her daughter needed her, and Pippi and her girls would always come first.
"Hush, baby. It's okay now."
Astrid pulled Pippi up and made her daughter sit on the bed next to her.
"It may be as you say it is, but that still doesn't make things your fault. All the signs about Dolph being a married man were there, but I chose to close my eyes to all of them. I loved him, and I didn't want to know anything that would tell me I couldn't love him."
"You were young—-"
"But I also knew what I was doing, and now I'm paying the consequences for it—-" When Pippi started shaking her head, Astrid said quietly, "This is how it should be, and in a way I'm glad to finally have it in the open." Her lips formed a wry smile. "As the cliché goes - nothing like the truth to set us free, darling." Astrid's slim shoulders moved in a shrug. "And now, it's going to get interesting, being Isla de Flores' aging Jezebel—-"
The description had Pippi choking back a teary giggle. "Mom!"
Astrid simply smiled, and seeing it, the urge to cry and laugh grew stronger. That smile said everything, reminding her of the family motto.
Together.
Everything was possible... together.
And maybe, just maybe - because she loved Acheron...
Pippi swallowed hard, but before she could say a word, Astrid had already reached for hand, saying softly, "The answer is yes."
You love Acheron, and that makes him family.
So don't give up on him.
Instead, face your troubles...
Together.