"You don't cooperate, that's fine too. I'll just find someone else to be the foil. But Deidre, think carefully. If I replace you, those videos and photos aren't coming down."
"They'll stay up forever. People will keep digging into you, keep tearing you apart. Sooner or later your parents will see them. Your brother's classmates will see them. Is that what you want?"
My fists were clenched so hard my knuckles ached. In that moment, I wanted to kill him.
But I couldn't.
I stood there in the moonlight, my face white as paper.
Victoria lifted her gaze and gave me one slow, provocative look—then, just as fast, softened into that sweet, concerned mask.
"Clyde, maybe we should just drop it. Deidre's been through enough… We can find another way."
"No."
His voice was absolute.
"I've already come this far. I'm not stopping now. Besides—"
He glanced at me.
"Deidre's a smart woman. She'll agree."
I looked at him, a tangle of emotions knotting inside me.
Three years ago, when I first came to Sterling City, I was renting a partitioned room in Brookside District.
In winter there was no heating—I'd pile on three quilts and still lie there shaking.
I told myself back then: