AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I don’t think she’s expecting a direct hit.
He turns and speaks to the camera now.
“Miss Dumas has claimed for months that I did the same thing to her as to Destiny Lancaster, but while Dess and I are together now, we never met before my assistant hired her as part of the Young Influencer program. Meghan Cerva has publicly retracted her allegations, on record.”
“Yes,” Tiff chimes in, pausing as the big screen next to us displays a bullet summary of the drama. “Quite a wild ride for our happy couple lately. But tell me, Shepherd, at the end of the day, we’re still left with a lot of uncertainty about your relationship with Vanessa, aren’t we? So much 'he said, she said' it could choke a horse.”
The audience jeers. A few people clap and laugh obnoxiously.
Torture.
“You paid them off,” Vanessa snaps—but she sounds unsure.
Tiffany whips toward her and waves a hand. “Now, now. Shepherd and Destiny’s relationship really isn’t in question when there’s a pile of legal records and witness testimony to back it up. Adriana Cerva, as you’ll recall, is just beginning to serve her sentence.”
Vanessa’s face whitens behind the red.
“Back to your point, I want to come clean,” Shepherd cuts in. “Yes, Vanessa and I had an agreement once. I was tired of dating and being swarmed all the time after—” He pauses and inhales deeply. “After Serena.”
“Your ex-wife?” Tiff leans forward in her chair intently.
“Yes. Your viewers might not know she was killed suddenly. I surprised her in bed with her lover, we had words, and the guy pulled a gun on me.”
Loud murmurs roll through the audience until Tiffany quiets them down.
I look at Shepherd, my eyes big and pleading.
Stay strong. You’re doing amazing.
“What I’m trying to say is, Vanessa was a stand-in woman. A mistake I made so I didn’t have to face reality. It was a stupid idea. When she wanted more and I turned her down, she ran with stories about us being madly in love. And while she might’ve ran with those fables, I’m the one who tried to run away. All I did was flee from my past—until I met Destiny.”
His eyes meet mine.
I can’t bring myself to care that we’re on live TV.
I walk over, lean down, and kiss him deeply.
The audience goes absolutely ballistic. They’re still shouting and talking loudly as the show pauses for a commercial break.
Next, once we’re back on, Tiffany video calls a few people who met Vanessa while she was on Shepherd’s arm. We were practically buried in requests from people volunteering to corroborate the truth after they found out about Adriana.
And the two people Tiffany pulls up both say the same thing—there was never any indication that they were dating.
No ring.
No stolen kisses.
No secret smiles I know too well.
Tiffany finally turns to me, the smile on her face undaunted by Vanessa steadily deflating.
“Tell us your story,” she says. “How do you feel about these allegations?”
“Well, I know they aren’t true, for one. Anyone as work-focused as Shepherd doesn’t have time for a relationship. And trust me, he needs some serious persuading to relax.”
The easy laughter that follows is sudden.
I prod his leg. “But he's very sweet about it. We didn’t plan this. It just sorta happened, like love always does.”
