I was in the hospital’s expansive garden bordering several of the buildings in the facility with several patients and attendants next to them but that didn’t deter the group of reporters that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
“Miss Evergreen, are you considering returning to Jerry Baxter now that his engagement has fallen through?”
A microphone was shoved in my face displacing the camera.
“Miss Evergreen, is it true the cause of your divorce was infidelity?”
My lips parted in shock. Where was all of this coming from?
I backed away from the cameras but they followed me, lights flashing, questions unending.
“Miss Evergreen, how do you feel about Reid Prescott’s engagement announcement?”
“Do you think you will be facing defamation charges for fabricating evidence?”
Suddenly someone was in front of me towering over me and blocking out the reporters.
“No comment.” He said gruffly and another man in head to toe black appeared at my other side and together they escorted me away from the reporters.
I had no idea who they were but there was no way I was going to refuse much needed help.
They escorted me to a car parked on the premises and immediately when the car door was opened, I saw Mrs Terrence seated waiting for me.
I hesitated for a second then got in.
Mrs Terrence was staring at me with eyes soft and round with concern.
“Are you alright, dear?” She asked.
Was I alright? I didn’t think so.
Had that reporter just said Reid was getting engaged? No, Sophia, don’t think about him. You don’t care.
But I did. Oh, I did.
“I understand you are reluctant to trust me now but you need my help,” Mrs Terrence sighed. “Things are only going to go downhill from here.”
I glanced at her confused by her words.
“What are you talking about?”
Mrs Terrence’s sharp brown eyes focused on me as she spoke.
“I assume you haven’t been online. Someone sold an exclusive about your divorce to all the major gossip columns. It’s not a stretch to say that you are currently trending as the most hated woman in L. A right now.”
Wait what?
Mrs Terrence handed me her tablet and my jaw dropped at the released ‘exclusive’.
Apparently, not only had I cheated on Reid with Jerry leading to our untimely divorce but I also tried framing Kate for attempted murder.
According to the post I had also in an audacious move gone on to demand millions of dollars in alimony from Reid despite the fact that I was currently pregnant for Jerry.
It was a seamless blend of lies and the truth.
I was divorced from Reid, I had turned Kate in for attempted murder, Reid had paid me millions of dollars as per our deal even though I hadn’t touched a penny from it and I was pregnant.
All the facts lined up and to any bystander, it would seem like I had actually done all those things.
I looked at Mrs Terrence
“But I didn’t do any of this.”
She didn’t look like she cared if I had done all that.
“It doesn’t matter, Sophia.”
But it mattered. If some of the press had enough incentive to break into a private hospital just to get photos of me then what was waiting for me the moment I stepped out of the hospital?
“So I just accept this false narrative?” I asked.
“You give it time to blow over. Combating it will only give it more fuel,” Mrs Terrence said, her gaze dipping to my belly as she spoke. “Besides, your pregnancy is already showing.”
She was right. I’d begun wearing looser more concealing fits towards the end of our trip to Singapore but very soon even that would not be enough.
And now my pregnancy would only serve as confirmation for the released exclusive.
My head spun and suddenly I found it hard to breathe. Why did it feel like I was freefalling from one problem to the next? Didn’t I deserve even a moment of respite?
“What do I do?” I whispered, my voice choking off.
I felt Mrs Terrence’s hesitant touch on my back.
“Come back home with me. You don’t have to accept us as your family yet but let me help you.”
I shifted away from her touch, lifting my head to face her.
“I can’t just leave. Mom is still hospitalized and-”
“I can have her transferred to a facility close to our home until her full recovery.” Mrs Terrence said cutting in, her tone sincere.
Our home, she said as though it was my home too.
Did she really believe this would all end if I came home with her? That we could somehow make up for over twenty years apart and become a loving mother and daughter duo?
“I might never accept you as my real mother.”
My words were cruel, I knew. But I couldn’t let her get her hopes up. Couldn’t let her believe I would let her replace Mom just like that.
Mrs Terrence smiled and it was a fragile thing.
“I know,” She reached out, her hand cradling my cheek. “As long as you are fine. It’s enough for me.”
There was nothing left for me here in Los Angeles if Mom could come with me. Tina was happily married now and Reid was no longer a part of my life.
My heart hurt and I wondered if this all-consuming pain would ever leave me.
All I had ever wanted was to be happy with my Mom at my side with a man who loved me as much as I did him.
Maybe happiness was out of reach for people like me but for my children, I would make sure it wasn’t.
And with the backing of a family like the Terrences, I might just be able to.
“Fine. I’ll come with you.”