Exposing the Charade of Deep Affection (PDF)
Chapter 37

Chapter 37 A Lie Is Always a Lie

"Tabatha, you're a whore!" Ashley snapped over the phone. I could hear her gritting her teeth in anger.

I was happy that Ashley was angry. I chuckled and said, "You're only worse than I. You've moved into the Hinton's house and don't mind. being a mistress at all. How could you call me a whore? Cut the crap and just tell me what you want?" I said, not wanting to waste my time.

Ashley probably knew that Walter wasn't with me, so she snorted and. stopped hiding her intention. "Tabatha, I'm offering you a chance because we're family. If you get an abortion and leave the Hinton. family, we'll still be family."

That was rich. I couldn't help but say, "Family? Ashley, is that a joke? It was five years ago. You think that I don't know anything about it. Are you sure that you did a pretty good job and no one would find it out?"

Ashley seemed cocky and snapped, "Find it out? Tabatha, what makes you think you can do that? No one believes what you've said. Give it up. I'm calling to offer a chance. Like I said, we're still family. If you continue to stay with Walter, don't blame me for being a cruel sister."

I laughed and said, "Thank you for the offer, but I don't need it. Let me make it clear to you. The Hinton family is not what they appear to be. Carley let you move in, so you think they will treat you well once you have a kid? Dream on. Mind you, Carley has been concerned about what happened five years ago, let alone a divorcee like you."

"Divorcee?" Ashley said the word almost through gritted teeth.

* "Tabatha, if I hadn't married someone else, you wouldn't have been

able to marry into the Hinton family. I was supposed to marry Walter.

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You took him from me. It's been two years. You should give him back to me."

I found her accusation amusing. I said with a chuckle, "Give him back to you? Do you really think you can hide what happened back then? Are you sure that no one knows where you got that gunshot wound? And you think you can make Walter listen to you forever with that wound, right?"

"You... What do you mean?" Ashley sounded scared, without a hint of confidence in her voice.

When I noticed that difference, I became more certain about my guess. I answered with a sneer, "You were surprised that you were found and taken to the hospital so quickly, weren't you? And you wondered why the whole Hinton family cared about you so much, right? I bet you still don't know why Walter fell in love with you."

"Tabatha, what are you talking about? What are you trying to say?" Ashley screamed.

It looked like Ashley panicked. I smiled and said patiently, "I just want you to know that you can't fool them forever. A lie is always a lie."

"Shut up!" Ashley yelled over the phone. She was hysterical now. "Tabatha, don't try to scare me with that trick."

I laughed. "Why are you so nervous if you think it's a trick? Walter couldn't see anything back then, but he used his head. Do you think he would ignore it if he found a bunch of flaws?"

With that, I hung up.

I felt ill at ease. I had thought that Ashley and Walter were together because they loved each other. But I couldn't help connecting the dots. after seeing Ashley's gunshot wound and hearing Dale's words at the Hinton's house that day.

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When I fell off that cliff, I thought I was going to die. I didn't want to have anything to do with Walter, so even after I went back to River City, I didn't think about the days back at the border. And those memories made me emotional and paranoid. Later, I just buried them in my heart.

I had thought that Walter felt the same way and let it go until Dale told me that Walter and Ashley were together only after they came back from the border. I knew Walter well enough to know that he wouldn't move on so fast after what we had been through. So I believed Ashley took advantage of the situation.

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