Chapter 7
The internet shitstorm kept growing like wildfire, completely torching Mason and Bree’s lives.
They were like paranoid fugitives now, wearing hoodies and sunglasses everywhere, terrified someone might recognize them from the viral videos.
When Mason hit rock bottom, he came crawling back to me.
On a gloomy afternoon, he ambushed me outside my office building. The confident guy I used to know was gone, replaced by this broken shell of a man with desperate eyes.
“Hazel, please. I need your help.”
His voice was rough and defeated.
“I get it now – you’re the only one who ever really cared about me. For the sake of our three years together, can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
Looking at this pathetic version of the man I used to love stirred up complicated feelings.
My mind drifted back to that sweltering summer day when we first met.
I was playing soccer during PE when a ball came flying out of nowhere and nailed me in the head. Everything went black.
When I came to, I heard this panicked voice: “Hazel, are you okay?”
There was this clean, fresh scent–like laundry detergent and something uniquely him.
I opened my eyes to find Mason sitting beside me, looking worried sick and apologizing nonstop.
That’s how our three–year love story began.
Back then, he was sunshine personified. Thoughtful, caring – he’d make me soup when I was sick, show up whenever I needed him.
I looked at Mason calmly. “I forgive you. But we’re never getting back together.”
“Okay, but… could you maybe post something online? Say you made everything up?”
“I never did anything wrong, you know that. I can’t lose my job. You understand, right?”
His tone was begging, pathetic, but there was still that gross manipulative undertone.
Seeing him grovel like this killed whatever tiny spark of nostalgia I had left.
The bright, sunny boy I’d fallen for was gone forever, replaced by this selfish, spineless excuse for a man.
21:03
Just a Stand–In?! My Billionaire Hubby’s OTHER Wife…
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Chapter 7
I walked away while he screamed desperately behind me, not looking back once.
The online mob didn’t calm down just because I stayed quiet–if anything, they got more vicious.
Under all that public pressure, both Mason and Bree got fired from their jobs.
Mason became a social pariah, universally hated.
For a long time after that, I didn’t hear anything about either of them.
When news finally reached me, Mason had gotten both his legs broken.
Apparently, some friend had introduced him to underground gambling. At first he won big and lived it up for a
while.
But Mason was never cut out to be a gambler. He lost everything pretty quickly and racked up massive debts.
When he couldn’t pay up, they broke his legs and left him homeless. Last I heard, he was begging on the streets.
Bree managed to hook up with some rich old dude and lived the high life for a bit.
But she couldn’t just enjoy what she had–she kept flaunting and spending like crazy until the guy’s wife found out.
The wife hired some people to teach Bree a lesson. They messed up her face real bad, then tossed her out on the
street.
Without her sugar daddy’s protection or her looks, Bree lost everything too.
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