Three Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 178

A wave of panic crashed over Lawrence, so overwhelming he could barely breathe. For so long, he’d tried to pretend this moment would never come, but now the truth was staring him down. His feet might as well have been bolted to the floor. He wanted to run. Somehow, though, all he could do was drift closer.

Helen’s hands were shaking as she pulled up Hannah’s social media. Her voice was full of mocking laughter. “Your family is so powerful, right? All that money, all that influence. Maybe you can sweep things under the rug online, maybe you can hide the worst of it, but do you really think the internet forgets? There are probably hundreds of Hannah’s fans sharing stories about Bonnie just for the gossip. Want proof? I don’t even have to try. I message one of them, and they practically flood me with all the so-called ‘truth.’”

She shoved her phone at Lawrence. It took a moment before he realized he was holding it, his fingers stiff and cold. Helen had only typed a single message to one person, and in return, she got a flood of files.

The first few were photos. The second he saw them, Lawrence’s stomach dropped. The airport. Three years ago.

He saw it all laid out in those snapshots. Bonnie, her palm slapping across Hannah’s face. Hannah stumbling to the floor, holding her stomach. Then Lawrence, rushing out from the lounge to carry Hannah away. At the time, Hannah was barely holding it together. She was fragile, dealing with all kinds of complications, and her head just wasn’t in a safe place. Lawrence had been scared out of his mind that one more argument would push things over the edge.

When he finally went back out, Bonnie was gone.

He could still picture himself, standing there in that noisy, crowded airport, completely lost. Any chance at happiness seemed to fade further away each time he hesitated. He’d had so many opportunities to turn back, to fix things. Every one slipped right out of his hands.

If he ever pictured how Bonnie would react, he assumed she’d be hurt, maybe furious—maybe she’d storm off and never look at him again. He never thought that, while he was busy saving someone else, Bonnie was being dragged into an airport bathroom by a group of girls. He never imagined them yanking her hair, slamming her into the sink, forcing her down, taking pictures with their phones. That they would post everything for the world to see.

And now, three years later, here it was. The proof. Right in front of him.

It was like someone ripped his chest open. Lawrence could barely keep standing. He made a sound he didn’t even know could come from him—raw and broken. The phone nearly slipped from his hand as the edges of his vision went dark, then hot red.

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