Wait…Why Did Everyone I Love Suddenly Call Me a Bitch?! novel Chapter 12

Chapter 4

Five minutes later, smoke poured into the ballroom.

The smell hit fast. People started screaming, shoving, running for the exits.

Staff were yelling, barely keeping things together.

Ten minutes later, everyone was outside under the neon lights, shaken and pale.

Couples who could barely stand each other were suddenly holding on tight.

“Thank god you’re okay, honey…”

“If I died, you’d probably throw a party.”

But me? I was standing alone. No sign of Grayson.

I screamed. “Grayson’s still in there! I gotta go get him!”

And I just took off running straight into the smoke.

Okay, so this whole crying act? That was gonna be my way to hit back at him.

A bunch of people grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go. “Mrs. Hartwell, don’t! You’re gonna die if you go in there!”

I was full-on crying, trying to fight them off. “I don’t give a shit! If he’s dead, I wanna be dead too!”

The manager came running up. “Ma’am, we already got people looking for him. You gotta trust us, okay?”

I just collapsed right there on the ground, crying my eyes out. “Grayson… don’t do this to me… you can’t just leave…”

People kept trying to make me feel better. “Don’t worry, Mr. Hartwell’s like a cat with nine lives. He’s gonna be okay.”

Time dragged.

Once the fire died, I was the first one to run into the burned-out mess, screaming his name.

“Grayson!”

Nothing. Just echoes.

No one downstairs. I ran upstairs to the lounge area, threw open door after door, checked dozens of rooms.

Still nothing.

Grayson’s dad showed up, saw me like this, and sighed. “What the hell did we do to deserve this shit?”

“You’re still a Hartwell. Get it together already.”

I didn’t hear him. Just kept moving, and shoved open the last door.

The second it opened-

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Wet, breathless sounds hit my ears.

My blood turned to ice.

Grayson wasn’t just fine. He was busy. Very busy.

A lace nightgown hung off his sweaty shoulders.

Underneath him, half-covered by sheets, was a woman.

The door swung wide. Eyes flooded in.

He froze.

Yanked the blanket over her and roared, “Everybody out! Get the fuck out, now!”

I’m standing there in the doorway, and I’m just crying-like, tears everywhere. “Grayson… you told me I was the only one.”

“So what the hell is this?”

He looked at me for like a second. His face was just… cold. Like he was disgusted.

“Just go home. We’ll talk later.”

His dad grabbed my arm and tried pulling me away, talking all quiet and tense. “Sloane, come on. You know Grayson loves you. Something’s going on here.”

“Let’s just go. We’ll handle this somewhere else, not here.”

Then he got even quieter. “We don’t air our shit in public. Let’s get out of here first.”

Why the hell should I?

This is your family’s dirty laundry. What’s it got to do with Sloane Reed?

The wildfire inside me finally burned through every last bit of control.

If you’re shameless enough to do it, don’t expect me to cover for you.

I shoved his dad’s hand away, stormed to the bed, and ripped the blanket off.

Grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back.

Her face was fully out there under a dozen stares.

Gasps. Whispers. Dead silence.

“Wait, THAT’S HER?!”

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