Page 350 of The Doctors Will See You Now

My heart stuttered painfully at that thought. Fucking hell. I had to think. I had to figure out a way to handle this before anything else happened. Once I reached the sidewalk outside of City Hall, I hailed a cab and told the driver to take me to my dad’s place in hopes that he’d have the wisdom to help me get Scott out of this situation. And since I knew Nicole was most likely there, I hoped she’d know what to do when it came to getting Scott to believe me that I didn’t write that article.

As I stared out the window, mindlessly watching skyscrapers and pedestrians pass by in a blur and worrying a hole in my lip with my teeth, my phone startled me with a text notification. I pulled it out of my purse, and relief bloomed in my stomach once I read the message.

Stella: David has definitive proof that your account was hacked. We’ve pulled the article and posted an apology to the public, and Scott, in its place.

Me: They’ve taken Scott into custody, Stella. You need to get David to head down to the police station now so that he doesn’t get charged with anything.

Stella: He already called. I’m sorry this happened, Harlow.

I was surprised by her candid apology. Stella wasn’t the type of woman to apologize for anything, but it was a relief to see that she had at least an ounce of care inside of her normally dark heart to understand that this situation was not okay. I also hoped like fuck this new information to the police would help Scott immediately.

Me: I feel like we need to do more, Stella. Even though my account was hacked, this situation is Gossip’s fault. Scott deserves more from us than an apology article. His entire life has been turned upside down because of this.

Stella: What else do you have in mind?

Me: A press conference. Every media and news source in New York needs to understand that this article is false and these accusations are not true.

Stella: I’ll get it scheduled for this afternoon.

Me: Really?

Stella: I might be a hard-ass, but I’m not callous, Harlow. Believe me, I’m sympathetic to this situation, especially to both you and Scott. I’ll clear my schedule and get a press conference scheduled for this afternoon.

Me: Thank you.

It might not have been a solution, but it was a start.

Now, I just needed to find a way to get Scott to talk to me, and as I walked up the concrete steps of my dad’s place, I prayed that he and Nicole would help me.

“It’s not just the article, Scott,” my thankfully kind officer of the law stated finally, after thirty minutes of mind-numbing circles of question and answer about everything in my life. The hospital, my relationship with the patients—even my relationship with Harlow.

Her article of bullshit had been painfully detailed—I’d noticed that the first time I’d read it—and now I was being forced to relive every false claim over and over again. But while the article itself had been the focus of this interrogation, apparently now there was something more.

“What? What else?”

Detective Santos sighed. “We got an anonymous call as soon as it broke. She claimed to be scared to come forward personally, but strongly suggested the allegations against you were factual in nature.”

My face felt clammy in my hands. The urge to bury myself in them had been pressing all day, but at this bewildering and shittacular news, I couldn’t fight it anymore.

“Oh God.”

“Scott.”

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” I muttered, head still firmly in my hands. “Never. I would never do anything with a woman without consent. Hell, enthusiastic consent. If I’m touching a woman, you better believe she’s told me she wants me to. Period.”

“Look, we’re going to look into this.”

“Can you…I don’t know…trace the call from today? Find out who this woman is?”

He looked at me with wrinkled eyes and a slightly downturned mouth.

“Sorry. You’re the detective here.”

He smiled then.

“I know this is not how you planned on spending your day today.”

I laughed, completely devoid of humor. To say the fucking least. The last week with Harlow had been perfect. Literally everything I’d never known I wanted. Everything I’d distinctly thought I didn’t want.