The Verdict on My Husband the Judge: GUILTY novel Chapter 61

Chapter 2

I was stuck in that hospital for three days. For seventy–two entire hours, my husband might as well have been abducted by aliens.

The next time I heard from Kieran was through social media

Some rising starlet named Mila Bennett had posted a photo that basically broke the internet.

Her caption was all cutesy and coy: [Finally got to grab dinner with my college crush!]

In the photo, you could clearly see a man’s hand and wrist.

The ring on his finger was one I’d custom–designed myself–a unique piece that had taken me weeks to perfect.

The comments section exploded like a teenage girl’s diary:

“OMG girl, is this really happening?!”

“Get it, queen!”

“We’ve been rooting for you for YEARS!”

Everyone and their mother knew about Mila’s private account where she’d been posting about her unrequited college crush for literal years.

Her handle was @K–Boy–some inside joke about the guy she’d been pining after.

The trending topic stayed up all day, turning Mila from rising star to America’s sweetheart overnight.

Nothing like a good “pure girl chases her dream guy” narrative to make the public eat out of your palm.

Years had passed since she was that shy college kid trailing after her crush like a lost puppy.

Now she was A–list, and those old crush posts had been gathering digital dust.

But suddenly her secret account was active again, and the internet was losing its collective mind over this “unrequited love success story.”

It didn’t take long for some internet detective to zoom in and spot the wedding ring.

Married college crush meets innocent starlet–now we were talking scandal.

As the story exploded, people started connecting dots with the dedication of FBI agents.

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The Verdict on My Husban the Judge: GUILTY

Chapter 2

That distinctive ring design? It had been spotted on Chicago’s newest tech golden boy in several business magazine photos.

Within hours, someone had doxxed Kieran’s information, and “Kieran Cross” and “Mila Bennett” were dominating every trending list.

The whole thing got so huge that all the trending topics mysteriously vanished within hours–clearly someone with money and connections had made some calls.

And through this entire dumpster fire, Kieran–the man at the center of it all–was radio silent.

I sat in my hospital bed, scrolling through this trainwreck, and actually started laughing.

Three days.

Three entire days without a word, and this was how I found out what my husband had been up to.

A few days later, I was already home from the hospital when Kieran came back late one night, acting like nothing

happened.

He looked exhausted, his usually perfect hair disheveled, tie loosened–the whole ‘tortured CEO‘ aesthetic.

“Hey babe, sorry. Work’s been absolutely insane. Haven’t had a second to breathe.”

No mention of the hospital. No explanation about trending topics. No acknowledgment that his wife had been

worried sick.

I glanced at his hands and felt rage explode in my chest.

His wedding ring was gone.

“Where’s your wedding ring?”

He glanced down instinctively, and his voice got this weird, shifty quality.

“I lost it.”

Lost it, or conveniently misplaced it for a romantic dinner? Only he knew the truth.

The anger made my nose throb with sharp, angry pain. I pressed my fingers to the bridge, too exhausted to start war.

We’d had this fight so many times I could probably perform both parts from memory.

Seeing me about to walk away, Kieran grabbed my wrist.

“I can explain the whole trending thing.”

Inda CHITY

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Chapter 2

“Aurora, Mila’s just an old friend from college. We were both in London, grabbed dinner to catch up. That’s literall

it.”

“There’s nothing between us.”

I gave him my most withering smile. “Then why didn’t you say that publicly? One simple statement would’ve killed all the speculation. Instead, you pulled strings to scrub the internet and let everyone think you’re having some

torrid affair.”

He ran his hand through his hair, looking genuinely frustrated. “Mila’s career is just taking off. I couldn’t throw her under the bus like that.”

I actually laughed out loud. “Didn’t she create this clusterfuck herself? If her career gets destroyed, that’s what we call ‘consequences of her own actions.“”

“Besides, how exactly would telling the truth destroy her career? That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.”

“Aurora, don’t be so ruthless.”

I couldn’t believe those words had just come out of my husband’s mouth–the man I’d been married to for seven years was calling me ruthless for expecting basic respect.

That night, I completely lost my shit.

All the anger I’d been swallowing for years came pouring out: “I’m ruthless? Are you actually serious right now? Your wife is having surgery, scared and alone, and where are you? Playing house with your college sweetheart in London. And now you have the balls to call me ruthless? Kieran, you make me sick.”

“Get out. I can’t even look at you right now.”

I rarely exploded like that anymore. Over the years, I’d gotten better at keeping my emotions locked down tight.

But sitting there, I felt completely hollow, wondering exactly when Kieran and I had turned into these toxic

strangers.

Pure panic flashed across Kieran’s face as he pulled me into a desperate hug. “I’m sorry. That was completely out of line. I didn’t mean-”

I pried his fingers off me, suddenly exhausted by the whole performance. “I think we both need some space to cool off.”

Even I was disturbed by how ugly and bitter I’d become.

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dog! GUILTY