Settling the Score (The Summer Games #1)(100)
Caroline picked up her napkin and dabbed at the corners of her mouth. She seemed wholly unaffected by the news. She didn’t blush or fidget. When she’d finished wiping away the imaginary crumbs, she dropped her napkin to her lap and leaned over the table confidently.
“This is ridiculous. You can’t prove any of this nonsense.”
I laughed. “I haven’t needed proof since you first showed your true colors. I’m announcing our separation as soon as I leave tonight.”
Her demeanor shifted then. The polite, anxious expression was wiped clean like she’d taken a towel to her features. She looked like a snake ready to strike. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed tightly together.
“The fact that you still think you’re in control right now is truly the sad part of all of this.” I focused on the slow-spreading smirk as it overtook her features. “Don’t you think I planned for this?” She laughed and flattened her hand across her stomach. “Whoops! I’ve lost the baby. Look at that.” She shook her head and shot me a pitiful glare. “I suppose the stress of having a cheating fiancé would cause any woman to miscarry, don’t you think?” She didn’t give me time to reply. “Tell me dear: how do you think the world will treat your little slut when they find out that she’s not just taken my husband and ruined my fairytale life, but also killed my sweet baby?”
She had a valid point, but she’d underestimated me. She assumed I still thought she had an ounce of humanity left inside her, but I knew better. There was no negotiating with Caroline. I knew that if I sat her down at dinner and revealed my hand, she’d reveal hers with a gloating laugh. I could try and be gentle and persuade her to back off, but it would get me nowhere.
“Her fate is linked to mine, Frederick. If you try to pull away from me, it will only tighten the noose around Andie’s neck. But you have an alternative: I know the media will love to hear about how you’ve stood by my side through a devastating miscarriage. Sure, you’ll do some groveling and they’ll make you pay for the affair, but in the end it’ll all work out.” She smiled. “Don’t you see, Freddie? You’ll never get rid of me.”
I shook my head and reached into the pocket of my trousers for my mobile. At first, I’d wanted to keep the press out of it, but Georgie, Dave, and my PR team had convinced me that transparency was our ally. I already had the article pulled up on my mobile. It’d been published twenty minutes earlier, as soon as Caroline’s ass had hit the chair inside the restaurant.
She took the mobile from my hand, but I was too anxious to watch her read the whole thing. The article was long—part interview, part exposé—and it touched on everything from my Olympic records to Andie and Caroline.
“It’s an exposé,” I said, reaching over and swiping my hand across the screen so an image of the fake ultrasound photo popped up, full-screen. “You see, for the last few months, I’ve largely ignored the press. They’ve been hounding my family and my manager to get to me.” I saw the mobile shaking in her hand, but I didn’t feel bad for her. “This time I answered every question they wanted to know: the forced arrangement between you and I, my involvement with Andie, and, most importantly, how you lied to the world about a baby that never existed.”
The color drained from her face and she dropped the mobile to the table. It shook the stemware, drawing the attention of the guests around us, but I trudged on, mostly because at that point, it felt bloody good to unravel the snake that’d been coiled around me for the last few months.
“Oh and we contacted Dr. Dunn—well, I should say, my lawyer contacted him. He signed an affidavit that details his involvement in your lies. Since he was so cooperative, we won’t pursue criminal charges, though he surely won’t get off so easily with the Medical Council.”
She reached for her mobile in her purse, but I shook my head.
“If you’re about to contact Sophie Boyle, I wouldn’t bother. She’s actually the person who interviewed me.” I could see the shock sink in. “Wasn’t she a friend of yours? Nice girl—bit of a mercenary, don’t you think? I would say you should pick your friends a bit more wisely in the future.”
She let go of her mobile and closed her clutch.
“Fuck you, Freddie,” she spat before sliding her chair away from the table. “This isn’t over.”
A part of me felt bad for her then—a small, tiny iota that diminished the longer she stared daggers at me.
“You’ve done this to yourself, Caroline. What happened to you?”
Her eyes were filled with such hatred. She reared back as if she were about to backhand me, but Georgie was already there, holding up her phone with one hand and catching Caroline’s arm in the other.
“Hey roomie! I’ll never forget the wonderful memories we’ve shared—this one in particular.”
Caroline shoved Georgie back so hard that Georgie nearly lost her footing and fell onto the table behind her.
“Get that camera out of my face!” Caroline yelled.
I stood up and rounded the table to put myself between the two of them. The restaurant’s manager was already approaching us, concerned about the commotion. We’d overstayed our welcome, and I had no intention of ruining the night for everyone around us. I threw more than enough money on the table and turned to escort Georgie from the restaurant.