Chapter 172
\nThree Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 172<\/p>\n
Ned was parked nearby, so when Bonnie and Helen stepped out of the mall, he was already there by his car, waiting and waving them over.<\/p>\n
Bonnie didn\u2019t bother with much chit-chat. She said hi to Ned, reached for the back door, and then that weird feeling of being watched crept over her again.<\/p>\n
She couldn\u2019t help scanning the busy crowd by the entrance, trying to catch whoever it was. Nothing. Just ordinary people coming and going.<\/p>\n
Maybe someone was snapping her picture again.<\/p>\n
Trying not to let it show, Bonnie pressed her lips together and slid into the car.<\/p>\n
The ride was unusually quiet. Helen and Ned, who were usually quick with a joke or a jab, kept to themselves. Every now and then, their eyes met in the rearview mirror, sharing that look that said everything words couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Bonnie distracted herself with her phone, answering a few messages. Some were from old coworkers and her former boss, reaching out with encouragement, others from classmates sticking up for her. The nosy ones and the gossips she ignored.<\/p>\n
Aiken was on assignment tonight, so Bonnie just sent a simple \u201cstay safe\u201d his way.<\/p>\n
Even that felt exhausting. And after she took Patton\u2019s advice, posting her official statement from an account she\u2019d never even used before, the fatigue hit harder than ever.<\/p>\n
With how fast the internet moves, it didn\u2019t take long for things to blow up. Hashtags, comments, strangers flooding in.<\/p>\n
Bonnie tapped through the reactions, finding that most were from Hannah\u2019s fans. Of course they didn\u2019t believe her, not for a second. The comments were dripping with sarcasm, all sorts of nasty jokes and accusations, drowning out anything positive.<\/p>\n
Some people straight-up demanded she apologize and leave Cabinda.<\/p>\n
Worse, they dug up stuff from three years ago, determined to pin the \u201cother woman\u201d label on her for good.<\/p>\n
Hannah had spent these last few years building her perfect, glamorous image online. Her fans weren\u2019t about to let that go. Bonnie peeked at Hannah\u2019s profile\u2014there was a post with photos from today\u2019s concert, another from the afterparty. Hannah looked flawless in her evening gown, holding her son\u2019s hand, the picture of perfect, unbothered happiness.<\/p>\n
She even hated herself. Why couldn\u2019t she just let it go? Why did her heart still ache so much? It felt like someone had smashed a rock against her chest.<\/p>\n
She struggled to keep her breathing steady, refusing to crack in front of her friends.<\/p>\n
They were almost home when Bonnie spotted a convenience store sign and suddenly spoke up. \u201cCan we stop? I want to grab something.\u201d<\/p>\n
She couldn\u2019t spend another sleepless night, couldn\u2019t let this pain take over again. Just for tonight, before facing whatever came next, she was going to let herself go for once.<\/p>\n
Ned pulled over, and Bonnie and Helen walked toward the store together.<\/p>\n
Helen watched as Bonnie grabbed bottle after bottle of alcohol and piled them into a basket. She wanted to say something, to remind Bonnie about her bad stomach, but then she saw Bonnie\u2019s bloodshot, brimming-with-tears eyes and bit her tongue instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-840","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}