Chapter 7
David’s sudden intrusion shattered my life.
He erupted abruptly, relentlessly targeting Edward.
Edward scrambled to counter the Carter family’s pressure and looming lawsuits.
He still tried contacting me through calls, messages, even sending people to track me down–all blocked or ignored.
For the first time, he tasted the terror of utter abandonment.
His voice messages shifted from initial fury to panicked helplessness.
“Donna, where are you? You did all this, didn’t you?”
“Do you hate me so much? Using such cruel revenge–do you want to ruin us?”
“Sophia, answer me! Don’t I deserve an explanation?”
“Donna, where are you? Please come back? I was wrong–let me explain…”
Just then, I saw Samantha deliver the final blow on television.
Facing swarming reporters and imminent ruin,
Samantha chose self–preservation without hesitation.
Dressed in a simple white dress, she cried pearly tears before the
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Chapter 7
fragile and vulnerable.
288 Vouchers
“I’m so sorry… I’m a victim too… I can’t endure this… Edward… he’s not what you think!”
Her voice fractured between sobs. “He… he’s my brother–in–law! Yet he… took advantage when I was drunk! He… filmed it! Threatened me ever
since…”
“If I refused him… he’d release the video to ruin me! I was… so terrified…
“None of this was consensual! He forced me! Destroyed me! My sister left after discovering us–she hates me, but I’m a victim too! I never meant to hurt her…”
In
1
Her raw performance painted a perfect picture of a woman long tormented by her sister’s husband.
The interview detonated like thunder, igniting public fury.
All accusations instantly targeted Edward.
As I moved to turn off the TV, I spotted him–haggard and thunderstruck -frozen in the doorway.
He stared at the screen, eyes bloodshot, lips trembling soundlessly.
“She… initiated it…”
He rasped, voice thick with absurd disbelief.
“It was her… that night…”
Like a puppet with severed strings, he collapsed to his knees, hysterical.
Those once–cold eyes now blood–veined locked onto me, words tumbling incoherently.
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Chapter 7
“Donna! Listen to me! Believe me! It wasn’t coercion!”
His voice frayed into a sob.
“It was her! Samantha! Our first married year..
Das
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she’d been scheming—”
Edward Clark tugged at his own hair as if trying to physically rip out the shameful memory.
“She got herself wasted while you were away… then slithered into my bed like a boneless snake!”
He stared at my expressionless face, panic rising as his words tumbled out faster.
“She clung to me, sobbing… wailed about always being overshadowed by her perfect sister… said nobody ever loved her… that only I understood her…”
“I’m the bastard!”
“I’m the one who should die!”
His voice pitched higher, frantic with sickening fervor.
“It was her… Samantha’s pitiful, fragile act! My own weakness! Those filthy thoughts in my head!”
It was as if he had finally found a reason that could convince himself, and tried to convince me as well. His voice rose, laced with a kind of feverish excitement.
“Yes! Exactly! Because she’s my sister–in–law! That forbidden allure… that taboo!”
“You know how I was raised… all that repression! Faced with that… that forbidden fruit right there…I lost control! My mind snapped! I deserve
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Chapter 7
hell!”
Crawling toward me, he tried grabbing my pants leg, but I recoiled in disgust.
“Donna! Only now… now that she’s turned on me… destroyed me. that I’ve lost you forever… only now do I see clearly!”
now
He lifted his tear–streaked, despair–ridden face, howling into the silence.
