Page 8 of The Wife Deception
"Aelin Burgess' car ran into a bunch of children singing Christmas carols," the title of the threadsaid. The moderators had locked the thread and deleted a few posts.
[Deleted]:Took a few images of the entire thing.Called the cops soon after.Fuck these entitled celebrities, man.
The original poster wrote in the thread description.
I scrolled down to the images, fingers shaking. But when I tried to click on a blurry thumbnail, nothing happened. The images appeared to have been deleted.
Other forum commentators were asking the OP if the kids were okay. While others were relishing in another upcoming Aelin Burgess scandal.
PicGremlin:That skank has had it coming for a long time. She's gotten away with way too much.
CertifiedH8er:"Do you have more?"
Fairylover:"This is gruesome. How can you people request more photos of dead children?"
[Deleted]:Calm your tits Fairylover. The children are fine. One had a bruise, and the other was a little disoriented.
The rest of the thread devolved into arguments on the ethics of taking images of children. The account of the original poster appeared to be deleted, as well as some messages he sent. The thread concluded with users asking about the deleted photos and their location, ultimately prompting a moderator to lock the thread.
Whichever way you sliced it, this was horrible. No wonder Nolan had used this as a threat. And how was it not reported? My grandfather must have protected her and made sure this did not come out. He must have paid off the parents and whoever took pictures of this.
I felt sick to my stomach. This is the person I had to pretend to be. A woman who drove drunk and ran into a choir of children. I had done extensive research into Aelin’s life and I don’t know how I missed this. Her worst crime, I thought, was giving her recovering drug addict ex-boyfriend cocaine to where he overdosed and almost died. Not this.What else did I miss?
I had no time to digest this new information because I heard the door click open and footsteps shuffling towards me. I jerked my head from the phone. The living room was dark and the only light streaming in was from the setting sun, bathing the room with a low golden glow.
He appeared like an apparition, his shadow looming large as marched over to me, briefcase in hand. I jumped out of my seat, screaming. Heflicked the light on, clicked another switch that closed the blinds and said, "It's only me." His voice was dry and, dare I say, tired.
"You know," I put on my best Aelin impression. "You could give a girl a warning instead of barging in unannounced."
"It's my home."
"A simple knock would have sufficed."
"I did. You ignored it."
I was so deeply engrossed in that awful forum that I forgot where I was. Now that I could see him clearly, Nolan did look drained. Because of work, or something else? There were bags under his eyes and a deflated look about him that made him look boyish. If I was a proper wife and this was a genuine relationship, I would have hugged him and asked about his day. But this was something else, so I stayed rooted and recalled his manhandling that led me to be here in the first place and not my home.
Nolan must have thought about the same thing as well, because he pointed to the bags in the living room and said, "What are those doing there?"
"I don't want to live here."
He sighed and pinched his eyes. "We've been through this before and I would rather not argue with you now."
"But I was never fine with it. You had your man haul my stuff here, and it was franklyhumiliating. I know you think I will try something wild, but I promise you I won't. You don't have to stand my presence and don't have to stand yours. Wouldn't you want that?"
"I would, but you and your grandfather have proven to not be trustworthy."
"Oh, come on!"
"You publicized our marriage without my knowledge."
"I didn't!"
He stood arms akimbo, looking incredulous. "Really?" He fished out his phone from his pocket, tapped furiously through it and then said, "And who gave the papers quotes such as," He read from his phone, "Nolan and I have been secretly dating for months. I love him and I am the happiest bride in the world."
Why did my grandfather have to go that far? I should have read the articles so I would have at least a defense. In fact, he should have warned me before sending a fake quote to the press, but when has he ever sought my advice?
"There's no way I am leaving you to stay on your own."
