Tom’s eyes snap to him. “Watch it.”
Fork smirks at him, raising his eyebrows. “Or what?”
“I want you to listen to me very carefully,” Penny says, stepping forward again. She gets right in Morgan’s face. She towers over her, and it makes Morgan look as small and spineless as she is. “I know what you did. I know who you are. You’re just as pathetic as I thought you were the moment I met you. But does your husband know?”
I glance at Tom. His brow furrows, and he slowly drags his eyes away from the girls to us. “What’s going on?”
It’s the fear that washes over Morgan that confirms everything, and Penny sees it.
Tom doesn’t have a fucking clue.
“Your wife has been feeding stories about your teammates to the press,” she bites out, eyes still locked on Morgan. Tom’s face goes through ten emotions before cold, hard realization washes over him. “And she tried to do the same to myfriend.”
Morgan swallows, glancing at Tom quickly, as if she’s too afraid that Penny will strike if she looks away for too long. “That’s not true.”
“Save it,” I murmur, forcing myself to sound bored, even though I want to go nuclear on her for playing dumb. “I have all the proof on my phone. You’re done.”
“What the fuck did you sell?” Tom bellows, storming forward. “That shit about Forker?”
Morgan looks back to Penny, her nerves evident.
“I swear to god,” Penny says quietly, eyes burning into her face. “If I hear you mutter either of their names ever again, I will make it my personal mission to destroy your life. If I hear apeepabout this before they discuss it publicly themselves, I’ll know it was you, andthatwill be your death sentence. You might have been here the longest, but I’m the one the public loves. I have all the power. That Instagram career of yours will be gone before you can fucking blink.”
“I—I didn’t,” Morgan stammers.
Arden nods along with every word, a proud smile on her mouth.
“What the fuck did you do?” Tom asks her quietly, his tone a blend of concern and fury.
Declan is glaring at Morgan too. He’s letting Penny do her thing; but every single ounce of the rage that is currently coursing through his wife is also running through him. Her shoulders are rising and falling with how hard she’s trying to keep herself calm. One wrong move, one wrong word, and Morgan is going down. We all agreed not to let it get that far. Only Morgan loses here, not Penny. Morgan will definitely be one to press charges if Penny swings.
Arden slowly reaches beside her to take Forker’s hand, and I wonder if he’s waiting to be tapped in.
“Do you understand me?” Penny seethes.
“Lowesy?” Tom asks desperately, looking at him for answers.
Declan shakes his head, eyes locked on Penny. “You need to talk to your wife.”
“I said,do you understand me?” Penny asks in a quiet fury, stepping forward—closer to her prey.
“There’s nothing wrong with it!” Morgan says urgently, trying to defend herself. Her eyes are full of tears as she scans Penny’s face. “If anything, it sounds likeyou’rethe one judg?—”
The slap is so hard that it echoes through the hall.
Arden gasps, and Morgan cradles her face, but Lowesy is there in a second—the only one not frozen with surprise. He wraps his entire arm around Penny’s middle from behind and hauls her backward, her finger still pointed at Morgan, eyes full of fire.
“You’re done!” she yells, tears burning in her eyes. Declan is physically carrying her down the hallway, but her eyes are still glued to Morgan. She isn’t finished. “Don’t show your face around here again, Morgan. I swear to fucking?—”
Declan opens a door and pulls her inside, slamming it shut behind them.
Morgan is breathing heavily, hand still glued to her cheek. She slowly glances around the room, taking us all in. Her face is flushed, red from both the slap and her morbid humiliation.
Tom is glaring at her, not saying a word.
Arden gestures toward the room that Penny and Declan just vanished inside of. We did what we had to do. It’s over.
“Oh, please,” Morgan snaps. She throws out her arm, gesturing to Arden and Fork. “I know the whole thing between you two is bullshit, too!”
