The Officer's Runaway Wife & Secret Son novel Chapter 516

The best part was that after she woke up, cried, and threw a fit, she never even called the cops.

He reminisced, a hint of genuine confusion in his voice.

"I actually thought about just marrying her, but then she said she was going to tell you she got assaulted by a bunch of guys at a bar and told me to play along. I told her she was out of her mind, but she said she wasn't. She said you owed her, and you’d never be able to pay it off. As long as you believed it, you wouldn't be able to leave for the rest of your life."

Rhys Huntington’s mind went completely blank.

Every single thing he had done over the years flashed before his eyes.

He had pushed Clara Bridges away.

He had always chosen Margot Johnson over Clara.

He had left Clara alone in the hospital, breaking her heart and causing her to vanish for four years.

He had even let Felix grow up without a father.

All because of a lie he had never once suspected.

But the most terrifying part of the truth wasn't just that Margot had lied about being assaulted by multiple men.

Even if Owen Price had been the only one, she still would have been the victim in that situation.

The truly horrifying part was that Margot had orchestrated the entire fallout to her advantage.

Shawn stood frozen with the microphone in his hand, his mouth hanging open. As he slowly processed what Owen was saying, an indescribable expression crossed his face.

The rest of the group fell dead silent.

Drinks were held halfway in the air; no one took a sip, and no one spoke.

They all knew Rhys treated Margot differently. It wasn't romantic love, but he catered to her every whim, caring for her more than he did his own wife. It was something unspoken and inexplicable.

No one ever knew why.

Now, they finally did.

Completely clueless about the tension in the room, Owen chuckled to himself.

"So, Clara, you asked me why I said Rhys values loyalty so much. Because all these years..." Owen tapped his temple. "All that bullshit he put his life on the line to shoulder..."

"It was all fake."

"Margot made it up."

Owen looked annoyed. "I know what I'm saying. It is what it is, so what if I spill it now?"

He looked at Rhys. "Rhys, back when you used to hold all the cards and lord it over us, did you ever think this day would come?"

No one else dared to breathe a word.

Clara felt Rhys's palms sweating.

Layers of cold sweat seeped out, dampening their intertwined fingers.

She knew exactly what was going through his mind right now.

Those years of self-imposed imprisonment, those endless years of believing it was all his fault.

The heavy chains Margot had wrapped around his neck with nothing but a few spoken words.

It was all a lie.

The victim was fake, and the debt was fake.

The only real things were the years they had lost because of it, and the lives that had been ground into dust during that time.