[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-2603221FDDD1-86":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},86,18,"Chapter 18: Watching the Bastard Unravel","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I never imagined I would see Everett Harrison again.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The man must have driven through the night; he looked utterly exhausted. His clothes, once perfectly pressed, were now disheveled and bordering on sloppy. There was a smear of something dark on his hem—a grimy stain that looked completely out of place on him.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">When he opened the car door, I couldn't help but jump. It had been so long that he felt like a total stranger.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, would you mind giving us a moment?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">My mother looked like she wanted to lunge at him, her face twisting with an urge to tear into him, but my father held her back. He shot me a look of deep, protective concern before ushering her inside.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Once they were gone, Everett reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Mind?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He didn't wait for an answer, lighting it immediately and taking a jagged, desperate inhale.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Evelyn, you look younger than you did three years ago.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I said nothing, just kept my eyes on him.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He held the half-burned cigarette between his fingers and let out a dry, hollow laugh.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"How have you been these past few years?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I’ve been miserable,\" he said, answering his own question.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">His face was etched with a weariness that went bone-deep.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Don't worry. I’m not here to ask you to take me back. I just wanted you to know that your choice was the right one. Ever since I married Hailey Silva, my life has been a wreck.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I remained silent throughout the entire performance. Everett treated me like I wasn't even there, venting his grievances as if he were speaking to the air or engaging in a bitter internal monologue.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He confessed that Hailey was fine as a fling, but an utter disaster as a wife. When their child annoyed her, she took off to stay with friends. When they fought, she ran back to her parents’ house.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Every day was a marathon of exhaustion. It wasn't just his body that was tired; his spirit was completely drained.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Why come here to tell me this? He didn't know.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I did, though.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He realized I was the only person who had ever seen him for what he really was—vulnerable and pathetic. In front of me, he no longer had to exhaust himself keeping up the charade.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The cigarette burned down to the filter, and he crushed it under his heel. His eyes turned sharp, flickering with a cold, desperate malice. He knew he would have to deal with the vultures in the Silva family eventually, but not today.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I can’t divorce Hailey right now. It looks like I’ll be living this life for a long time.\" Everett fixed his gaze on me, begging for a final crumb of validation or pity.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Right,\" I said. \"Well, goodbye then.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">No need for more words. He was already a stranger.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">My future was waiting for me ahead.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Not back there.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">(End of Story)\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272927991]