Chapter 30 #2
“The revamped center has two full-sized basketball courts, a comprehensive fitness center, and an indoor pool.” Grabbing the remote, I pressed play, hoping the glossy photos of the expensive renovations would gather the crowd’s attention.
Looking back down at my notes, I continued listing all of the expansions we had made.
“Four floors of activity space, including indoor basketball, volleyball, and a fully equipped fitness center. There are studios for dance, yoga, and aerobics, as well as a swimming complex with lap lanes. Each area—” Gasps rang out as murmurs rose.
Fingers were pointed at the screen behind me as the crowd stood up or leaned over to get a better view.
Confused, I turned around, only to gasp in horror.
Instead of the carefully curated photos to highlight my charitable ventures, the photos were much more personal. Pictures of me scattered across the city, outside dimly lit hotels and upscale restaurants, caught mid-embrace with men who knew better, men who belonged to someone else.
In horror, I turned back to the crowd, where their wives sat just feet away, watching, their expressions frozen somewhere between disbelief and fury as the photographs told their own stories.
Then, the images shifted. Grainy, intimate, damning. Supposedly discreet encounters with known competitors exposed under harsh light, envelopes slipping from one hand to another, deals negotiated in shadowy corners, never meant to see daylight. Proof of transactions, of secrets bought and sold.
Next came the receipts, my credit card statements, bold and undeniable, all neatly filed under the company’s name. Every indulgence, every luxury, every lie documented in cold, impersonal numbers.
Finally, the last blow: me, leaving the holistic clinic with Natalia in their surveillance videos. Close-ups of the pill bottles in both our purses. Followed by the tox screen for Maxwell, the drugs from the clinic were highlighted in his system.
The images didn’t stop. They looped endlessly, a relentless reel of scandal and betrayal, every secret stripped bare, every misdeed magnified, leaving nowhere to hide and nothing left to deny.
Before I could think of a reply, Maryanne was stalking over to me.
The photos of Barry and me were back on the screen as the images looped.
Too late, I saw the glass of wine in her hand, it wasn’t until the sticky red liquid was flung at me, drenching my face and clothing, that I realized what had happened.
A sharp silence fell over the room as everyone watched the drama unfold.
“You two-faced bitch,” Maryanne said. It wasn’t a yell, but her voice was loud. Angry. Determined.
“You’ve always walked around like you’re better than us, like you are in on some grand secret the rest of us aren’t worthy to hear.
But let me make something very clear. We’ve always known exactly who you are, or more specifically what you are not.
” She sneered, looking at me like I was a piece of gum stuck under her shoe.
Pointing at me, she continued her tirade.
“You are not exceptional, and you’re definitely not untouchable. You’re nothing but a frightened, greedy woman clawing for importance, putting yourself before anyone else, and calling it ambition.
“You wanted to be remembered, didn’t you? Well, congratulations, you’ll be the example people use when they talk about what not to become. But the illusion is gone now. I hear even Walter is done with you.”
My face was flushing, my heart was beating so fast, and there was a dull ringing in my ears. How is this happening? Who did this? Sophie’s pleased expression caught my attention, and I headed straight for her.
“You set me up! You’ve made an embarrassment out of all of us! What were you thinking, you dumb, useless girl?” I yelled, only vaguely aware of the phones out recording us.
Everything felt sticky, the smell of the red wine giving me a headache as it seeped through my clothing and into my skin.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Helen,” she replied calmly, standing up to face me head-on.
“I see you’ve grown a backbone, or is that because you think your boyfriend’s family can help you?” I growled, rage boiling.
“I don’t need anyone’s help to handle you. That’s the difference between us, Helen. Remember, this was a war you started. I never asked for it, but now I’m finishing it.
“You’ve spent the last three decades lying and manipulating everyone around you just to make yourself feel important.
Now, you’ll find out exactly how little you matter to anyone…
How little you ever did.” I staggered back, the vicious words taking me by surprise.
Even worse were the nods and murmurs of agreement rippling throughout the room.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.
You’re spreading lies about my son and me.
You’re doing whatever you can to tear us down so you can convince poor Walter to leave all of his money to you and that child you forced upon Maxwell,” I spit out, my control fraying.
I was wholly unprepared for the slap that came from Judge Lennox.
“How dare you. You and your son have done nothing but put this woman and her daughter through hell.”
“I’ve got this, Abigail. It’s alright,” Sophie told the woman, her voice deceptively calm. She turned those green eyes on me, all traces of friendliness gone.
“Let’s not pretend anyone here ever truly respected you.
You were tolerated—barely—and only because of Walter and Thomas.
They were your shield, the only reason anyone allowed you into rooms you had no right to stand in.
And what did you do with that? You shamed them.
You hid behind their names while giving them nothing in return.
” My face flushed, and it felt like the walls were closing in on me.
Disappointed and angry faces surrounded me, pictures of my most private moments flashing behind me, cameras recording my fall from grace at every unflattering angle. But Sophie wasn’t finished.
“So tell me, who exactly do you think will stand beside you? When you’re rotting away in a prison cell.
When shopping trips and charity galas are nothing but a faded memory.
Only then will you hear from me. You’ll beg me to speak to you because no one else will.
” I swallowed, the movement painful as a lump developed in my throat.
I was unraveling. Everything I had ever worked for was falling down around me. How will I ever come back from this?
“It doesn’t matter where you wind up. The real punishment is that you understand this: you are nothing.
You do not matter, and the world will keep moving.
The people here will keep living, and we’ll all be better because you’ll be gone.
” Sophie delivered her final blow, the people around us—the ones I called friends and had spent years interacting with—raised their glasses in agreement.
I scanned the room for an exit. How do I get the fuck out of here? I couldn’t breathe. I was afraid I was going to pass out, and I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much they had gotten to me.
A disturbance near the entrance caught everyone’s attention, and I was grateful for the reprieve. I took a step to head to my table, thinking I could grab my things and sneak out, when a man’s loud voice rang out.
“Helen Townsend?” I turned, my mouth dropping open as two uniformed officers entered. Murmurs rose as everyone stepped back, creating a pathway between me and the police. Once they were close enough, they stopped in front of me.
“Are you Helen Townsend?” they asked. I nodded, my mouth too dry to respond.
“You’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent…” As they read the Miranda rights, my arms were pulled behind my back as the cold metal of handcuffs slipped around my wrists.
The officer led me out of the room, hands cuffed, red wine stains down my front. The silence was deafening at first, but then sound started filling the space—behind me, slowly increasing, was the sound of applause.
Everyone was cheering my demise, witnessing my fall from grace in real time, and rejoicing. The door of the squad car slammed shut behind me, the reality of my situation overwhelming me.
My breathing became out of control. It was impossible to get enough air in my lungs. Before we had even left the parking lot, I blacked out, welcoming the darkness—anything but the reality that faced me when I was awake.