Chapter 12 - Charleston’s Not for Everyone
Sarah's POV
I told Matt it would be better if he went to Charleston alone. The kids had school, soccer, gymnastics, and a calendar that looked like a marathon. He believed me. What he did not know was that while he secured the client, I planned to confront the woman who had torn my family apart.
I waved goodbye as he threw his bag in the back of his car. The moment his taillights disappeared, I moved.
My stomach knotted tight. Lily was young, beautiful, and cruel enough to remind me more than once that my best years were behind me. If I were going to face her, it would be on my terms.
I pulled a sweater dress from the closet, form-fitting and unapologetic.
It was not flashy, but it clung in the right places, showing a body honed by early morning runs and discipline Lily could only fake.
I brushed my hair until it fell in a glossy curtain down my back, applied concealer, and lined my eyes just enough to look effortless. Younger. Sharper. Untouchable.
When I checked my reflection, I did not see a woman Lily could dismiss as too old. I saw the version of myself who had survived heartbreak and come out harder.
Sliding into my SUV, I turned the key, scrolled through playlists, and landed on Loud Bark by Mannequin Pussy. The first notes rattled through the speakers, raw and electric. Perfect. By the time I pulled into the jail lot, my confidence had shifted into something steadier.
I am not just here to visit, I am here to do emotional harm.
The guard unlocked the door to the visitation room and gestured for me to enter. Lily was already perched on the edge of the metal bench, posture stiff, eyes burning like she had been waiting for this moment.
Her lips curved into a smile. “Finally. I knew you’d come. You can’t keep me out of his life forever.”
I sat down across from her and folded my hands neatly on the table. My tone was calm, almost polite. “Hello, Lily. I figured it was time you and I had a little talk.”
I leaned forward, voice cool and precise. “You’re right, you know, I am conspiring against you. Look at you behind bars. Look at me walking free. It’s working.”
Lily’s smile faltered, confusion flickering in her eyes.
“You know,” I went on, almost conversational, “Mr. Holloway mentioned he needs a new assistant. I’ve thought about it. Maybe I’ll sit at his desk every day, right where you used to sit. Remind everyone who won. Sneak in a fuck from my husband on his desk so often that you are completely erased."
Lily’s mouth opened, but I lifted a hand and stopped her. “Oh, sweetie, I didn’t come here to hear your voice. I came here to tell you I’m onto your little delusional act of star-crossed lovers with my husband.”
I leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. “Here’s the secret. I haven’t fought for him once. Not once. The man is out here simping for me every single day while you sit alone in your bedroom, rocking back and forth like some basket case.”
My smile widened just enough to cut. “Listen, I’ve always been of the mindset that if you can take him, you can have him. But he doesn’t want you. Not after he had you. That must sting, doesn’t it? To be so bad at being the other woman that you drove him straight back to his wife.”
I let a mocking laugh slip, soft and deliberate. “As they say in Charleston, bless your heart.”
Lily stiffened, eyes narrowing, but my voice only grew steadier. “And what’s with the delusional act, Lily? I don’t get it. When I first met you, I thought maybe you’d grow out of it, the need to play men like they’re bandages for whatever cracked story you came from. Daddy issues?
I lock my eyes on Lily’s. “Either way, it’s pathetic. You’re not mending anything. You’re just tearing your own life to pieces.”
Lily muttered something about Matt, but I cut her off with a chuckle that turned sharp.
“Are you a whiny girl or a woman, Lily? Running around like something out of Fatal Attraction, spinning tales of brainwashing and conspiracy? Get real. What’s next, a boiling bunny in my kitchen? Oh my god, are you a bunny boiler?"
The words landed like a left hook. Lily flinched, her composure cracking, but I leaned in one last time, my voice silk over steel.
“It needs to stop. You come for my kids again, and the city will be finding pieces of you for years to come.”
Lily's fury began to light up her eyes. I could tell her hands ached to grab me by the hair and rip it out. I loved watching her squirm this way.
I rose smoothly, straightened my sweater, and offered one final cold smile. “Face it, Lily. You’re not obsessed with Matt. You’re obsessed with me.”
Lily’s lip quivered, her face crumpling for half a heartbeat before she switched it into a cruel smile. A laugh scrapes out of her throat. “You really think you did something there, don’t you, Saint Sarah?”
I tilted my head then feigned surprise. “Oh wow, I thought you were going to cry for a second there. That was good, Lily, until you smiled. Too much teeth. That’s also what Matt said about your blow jobs.”
I didn't raise my voice one time. But I felt it, my words alone gutted the room.
Then I simply turned and walked away, my mocking laugh lingering in the stale air of the visiting room, sharper than any lock on the cell.
Back in the car, I flipped down the visor. The mirror caught my face in the dim light, hair still glossy, mouth curved just enough to suggest satisfaction. I studied myself for a beat, then snapped the visor shut. That was all the confirmation I needed.
The engine rumbled alive, and Self Care by Mac Miller poured through the speakers, steady and unhurried. The beat filled the SUV, wrapping my thoughts in something resilient. I let it ride, volume high enough to claim the space as my own.
Street after street passed beneath my tires. Same routes, same cracks in the sidewalks, but something felt different. Lighter. Like the air itself was shifting in my favor. I met the monster and discovered it was not half as powerful as I believed.
At a stoplight, a laugh slipped out, sharp, almost surprising me. It hung in the air for a moment before dissolving, leaving behind a silence that felt earned.
By the time I turned onto my street, a new song was playing.
Ain't it Fun by Paramore. The houses line up like quiet witnesses, each one familiar, each one a reminder of the life I built long before Lily Thompson ever appeared.
I slowed as I pulled into the driveway, letting the engine idle a moment longer than necessary to listen to the song.
My fingers tapped once against the wheel, then stilled. The confidence was still there, humming under my skin, but beneath it is something harder to name. Something that lived in the uneasy space between. I had cut Lily down, yes. I drew blood with words alone. But women like Lily don't stay quiet.
I switched off the ignition, and silence rushed in to fill the car.
For a moment, I stayed with it and closed my eyes, the last notes of the song echoing in my head.
In that pause, Matt’s face surfaced, how he looked that morning before he left, the lines in his expression, the way his eyes lingered on me like he was holding something back.
And still, part of me wanted to know what he hadn’t said.
I pushed the thought aside, grabbed my bag, and stepped out of the car.
The air smelled faintly of cut grass and gasoline, the ordinary perfume of suburbia.
Ordinary is what I wanted, what I have been fighting to protect.
Dinner at the table. The kids’ voices bouncing down the hallway. A life Lily would never touch.
I locked the SUV with a sharp click, squared my shoulders, and walked toward the front door. Victory was mine today.