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Violet was spiraling. She had gotten the apology she needed, but it felt wrong.
And that was probably because it wasn’t even his to give.
She felt like an idiot. She had been waiting for six years to get confirmation Charlie was two faced. She waited for him to rub her paper in her face, to repeat the evil comments that had cut her to her soul.
And it never came.
Of course it never came because he didn’t make the fucking comments. It was Lauren.
Lauren, who had thrown her drink on Violet at the engagement party. Lauren, who Liv hated and didn’t trust. Lauren, who was a morally questionable lawyer who made a lot of money by ruining other’s lives.
Liv had said Lauren was a terrible person many years ago, and Violet had thought she and Charlie were perfect for one another. But now she was seeing Lauren was the one egging it on. And if she had hurt Violet with one paper - what had she done to Charlie in the last six years? That kind of meanness didn’t end on paper.
No, it spread.
There was a knock at the door - a loud, insistent sound. Charlie glanced at it but made no move to go answer it. So, Violet put her pain into a box and walked to the front door.
Only for it to come back tenfold when she opened it.
Lauren stood at the door, leaning against the doorframe like she owned the place. Violet had to resist the urge to attack because all the anger she had felt for ten years had shifting, settling right into the person in front of her.
She had thought she had maybe hated Charlie or Elijah, but this was different.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Violet said, crossing her arms. Suddenly, instead of Charlie’s perfectly beautiful girlfriend, Lauren was one of the ugliest people she’d ever seen. Her red hair glimmered in the porch light like blood, her eyes narrowed like she was ready to attack at any moment. Her features were too sharp too mean to be anything beautiful.
“God, are you always here?” Lauren said and rolled her eyes. “You’d think you’d be more excited about getting out of here considering you ‘hate’ him so much.”
“Lauren,” Charlie said in such a sharp voice it made the hairs on Violet’s skin raise. She hadn’t even realized Charlie had walked over. He stood behind her, his form tall and intimidating. “We need to talk.”
Lauren was unperturbed by Charlie’s tone. “Sure, but can the middle school teacher leave? We’re adults. Not kids.”
“No, actually, I want to have a talk with you too,” Violet said. “So, I think I’m staying.”
Charlie nodded, of all things. Wow, it was weird being on his side.
Violet was not only mad, but curious. Was Charlie going to hold Lauren accountable? She remembered Liv telling her Lauren seemed to be able to get away with whatever she wanted. There was a part of Violet that knew she wouldn’t let it. She wanted Lauren to burn.
But after everything, Violet wasn’t going to fool herself into thinking she was important to Charlie - not enough to dump Lauren. Those two had years of being together. Violet and Charlie only had years of pain.
And yet, Charlie was still glaring at her. Anger simmered on the surface of his skin, but Violet could see the hurt boiling underneath.
For the first time, Lauren seemed to realize Charlie was mad. Her haughty attitude faded slightly, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
“What’s your deal?” Lauren asked.
“I know about Violet’s paper," Charlie said. “I know you got on my laptop, changed all the comments, and then let me send it to her with them.”
There was a long pause before Lauren answered. Violet wondered if she was even going to try to deny it.
“I’m guessing that’s something she told you?” Lauren asked, pointing at Violet.
“I showed it to him, Lauren. I still had it.”
“With all the comments, ones I know I didn’t make," Charlie added.
Lauren paused for a moment. “So, you’re blaming me for all of this?”
“So, you did it,” Charlie said.
