Page 158 of Sugar

The OGs ended up in cuffs—and not the fun, golden kind.

But it was Doug who ended up behind bars because Eve had turned on her husband faster than she could say divorce.

Which she’d also done.

At the top of her lungs.

I had no clue what happened to Josh beyond the fact he wascooperating. I hoped that didn’t mean he would be getting a deal he didn’t deserve.

There were probably a million other details that I missed in the chaos. I would get the full scoop from the source herself when Greer was ready, and for once, I was fine to wait.

In the meantime, I was spending my evening in the living room of my childhood home with my parents, my boyfriend, two other lawyers, two detectives, three fish, and a bubble bully.

I’d started the semester with the knowledge that things would never be the same again.

I just hadn’t known how right I was.

As it turned out, my parents had begun to suspect that something hinky was going on with Doug—Mom’s words. Those discrepancies she’d discovered had been the source of my dad’s stress, not me.

Okay, also me.

They’d worried that Doug was using the drugs himself and had been keeping a close watch on him for any signs of impairment. They hadn’t wanted to implode a decades-long friendship with unfounded accusations.

All the while, they’d been assembling a folder of potential evidence.

One of the detectives pointed to it in my mom’s hold. “We’re going to need to take that.”

My parents’ lawyers didn’t object.

Mine did.

“They’ll bring it in tomorrow,” Easton said.

“Why not now?” the detective asked.

“We want to make sure we have everything.”

The detective didn’t look happy, but considering they already had a treasure trove of evidence from Eve, everything else was golden. They asked some more questions, most of which my parents answered.

Every so often, Easton interjected with an evasion or an outright refusal to let them respond.

Once they were done, the detectives stood and handed my parents and Easton their cards. They must’ve noticed how useless the other lawyers were because they didn’t offer cards to them.

The younger detective gave my dad a somber look. “We’ll see you tomorrow with those documents. Your prescriber privileges will be suspended as we sort through this.”

“That’s fine,” Dad said. “I’m retiring effective immediately.”

“Can’t say I blame you.” The older one looked at Mom. “Just no more golfing in your retirement.”

“I’m thinking a cruise,” Mom said, and I barely held in my giggle at her unknowingly echoing my thoughts.

The police left, and my parents spoke with their lawyers at length about the process of dissolving Exquisite Aesthetic. Closing a chapter of their life was already bittersweet. But to be forced to go out that way thanks to someone else’s selfishness was devastating. They tried to hold it together, but both of them got choked up more than once as the weight of everything sank in.

Fine, I did, too.

With the promise to be in touch once they’d reviewed the business contract, their lawyers departed.

Leaving just my parents, my boyfriend, and me.

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