Three Years Too Late Chapter 09
Later that afternoon, I was in great spirits. I was humming a tune to myself, riding my electric scooter back to my apartment.
I didn’t make it very far, though.
A Porsche rear-ended me, knocking me right onto the pavement.
Fortunately, I got incredibly lucky and walked away with only a few scrapes.
By the time I stood up, Denise had already marched over.
She crossed her arms and glared down at me.
“Jazlynn, I warned you last time,” she said. “If you try to seduce Kel again, I won’t let it slide.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve even showing your face around him.
“Jazlynn, I warned you last time,” she said. “If you try to seduce Kel again, I won’t let it slide.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve even showing your face around him.
“This was just a minor warning. Next time, you won’t walk away with just a few scratches.
“Don’t worry, though—I’ll cover your medical bills and lost wages.”
I rubbed my aching knees.
Once the sharp pain backed off a bit, I straightened up, grabbed a thick handful of Denise’s smooth, perfectly styled hair, and slapped her twice across the face.
“Bitch, did I not slap you enough three years ago?” I said. “Now you’ve gone out of your way just to get hit.”
Within seconds, her face swelled up from the impact, and her words slurred together when she tried to speak.
Eventually, a passerby had to step in and call the cops for her. But when the police handed down their final ruling, Denise was absolutely furious.
Not only was I completely cleared of any fault, but I was also awarded a massive settlement.
“Why?” Denise yelled.
“Because I have a documented mental illness,” I replied.
“Because I have a documented mental illness,” I replied.
During my darkest year, my severe depression eventually spiraled into bipolar disorder.
I hadn’t even made a move against her yet, but she came to me first.
I only agreed to settle once Denise paid me a hundred grand.
She shot me a glare, threatened to make my life a living hell, and sped off in her Porsche.
I knew exactly what she was playing at.
She was going to twist the facts and sic the internet on me.
But this time, I beat her to the punch.
I took every single piece of evidence I’d hoarded on my phone over the years and dumped it straight online.
Because Kellen and Denise were at the peak of their popularity, the exposé blew up instantly.
By that night, it was the number one trending search. The comments flooded in.
“Kellen Rivett and Denise Waldron are absolute trash.”
“Kellen is so incredibly ungrateful.”
I took every single piece of evidence I’d hoarded on my phone over the years and dumped it straight online.
Because Kellen and Denise were at the peak of their popularity, the exposé blew up instantly.
By that night, it was the number one trending search. The comments flooded in.
“Kellen Rivett and Denise Waldron are absolute trash.”
“Kellen is so incredibly ungrateful.”
“Denise crashed someone else’s relationship and tried to start a cyberbullying mob.”
A tidal wave of hate directed at the two of them washed over the internet.
“Three years ago, when Denise dropped that audio to clear her uncle’s name, I actually bought it. She’s so twisted.”
“I was always confused about that since the news wasn’t even public yet. It felt so random. Turns out she just wanted to deliberately start a witch hunt.”
“These two make me sick.”
“Don’t let Kellen off the hook, either. The Tindall family dropped over a hundred grand to support him, and he just stood there doing nothing while his benefactor died.”
“Honestly, they never should’ve funded someone so ungrateful to begin with.”
I read through the comments one by one, but the revenge brought almost no satisfaction.
If I could go back in time, I would do everything in my power to talk Dad out of funding Kellen.
Some people just didn’t deserve sympathy.
After that day, Kellen and Denise’s reputations were completely destroyed.
Just like I had been back then, they were too terrified to go online or even leave the house.
Shortly after, the court took my case, and Denise got served her subpoena.
The day before the hearing, Kellen called me.
His voice was rough, barely more than a croak.
“Jaz, I’m sorry. I just realized how much pain you were in back then.
“But I swear, I never meant to hurt your dad.
“Don’t worry—when I die and see him, I’ll apologize to him in person. I’m leaving my entire estate to you to make up for it.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
I listened in silence until he was done.
The day before the hearing, Kellen called me.
His voice was rough, barely more than a croak.
“Jaz, I’m sorry. I just realized how much pain you were in back then.
“But I swear, I never meant to hurt your dad.
“Don’t worry—when I die and see him, I’ll apologize to him in person. I’m leaving my entire estate to you to make up for it.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
I listened in silence until he was done.
I didn’t say a single word.
Eventually, the line went dead.
The next day, my lawsuit against Denise wrapped up.
Because of the severe damage she’d caused me, the judge handed down a three-year prison sentence.
I took the inheritance Kellen left behind and moved to a new city for a fresh start.
I had lived in constant emotional agony for three solid years.
But in that moment, the pain finally stopped.