Chapter 11 Step Aside
The doctor checking on Michelle was still here.
Caroline spotted him and lifted her chin at Caleb ”
Ask him yourself.”
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buy it?
“Well…” The doctor sighed, shrugging. “ECT does have a track record with depression. Helps some patients move past trauma.”
“Let’s do it then,” Caleb said.
Right on cue, Michelle stirred, her eyes fluttering open.
“No!” Her voice cracked, tears welling up. “I don’t care if it hurts. me. I want to remember the pain of losing my family forever!”
“Oh?” Caroline smirked. “You can hear us?”
“Bits and pieces…” Michelle choked out between sobs.
Then, she looked straight at Caroline, eyes blazing.
“I know you hate me, but this? Erasing my memories? Think that’ll cover up what you did?
“I never wanted to blame you, but you know why I’m here! This is on YOU! And now you wanna fry my brain to shut me up? That’s just sick!”
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Chapter 11 Step Aside
Caroline rolled her eyes and tossed the medical report onto Michelle’s bed, pages scattering everywhere.
“Look. Perfect vitals. You’re fine,” she said.
“My body’s fine, but my mind-” Michelle began.
SLAP!
Caroline’s hand struck like lightning, the crack echoing through
the room.
“Since you’re so healthy, that shouldn’t hurt much,” she sneered.
Michelle touched her burning cheek, eyes wide.
“You… you dared to hit me?”
She shot up, tears streaming.
“How dare you! My parents and my brother never laid a hand on me, not once!”
CRACK!
Another slap, backhand this time.
“Yeah, well, I’m not them. A shameless snake like you deserves both sides,” Caroline spat.
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Chapter 11 Step Aside
Michelle sat there, hair wild, face red and swollen.
And Caleb? He stood frozen, processing what had just happened.
Then, he lunged forward, yanking Caroline back.
“What the hell? She’s a patient!” he roared.
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“Oh, please, you know she’s faking!” Caroline shot back. “Too scared to wake up because she can’t explain that video. She can’t have kids, so she ruins someone else’s? Caleb, defend this trash, and you don’t deserve to be Dominic’s dad either!”
Caleb’s face darkened, jaw clenching tight.
He turned to the tearful Michelle. “You’d better explain yourself. Why’d you coach Dominic to frame Caroline?”
Michelle opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Yeah, she had no excuse.
As Caleb’s face grew icier, a sudden inspiration hit her.
“Fine! It was me!” she burst out. “I told Dominic to do it!”
“He trusted you,” Caleb said, frowning. “And you used him?”
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Chapter 11 Step Aside
“I was desperate!” she wailed. “I needed to get rid of her! I wanted to be your secretary. It should’ve been ME!”
She risked a glance at him. His face just got darker.
Panic crept in. She scrambled for sympathy.
15 min left
“Caleb, don’t you remember? Back when Matthew was still alive, you guys always joked about how I’d be your secretary one day, even if I sucked at school.”
“I’ve been waiting for that chance for years. And then I hear you’re marrying her–and giving her the job? Like I meant nothing to you.”
She even dragged her dead brother into it, hoping to twist the knife.
But Caleb didn’t budge. Cold as ice.
“If you wanted to work with me,” he said flatly, “you could’ve just asked. No need for the drama. All you did was humiliate yourself and hurt people.”
“Seriously?” Caroline cut in with a smirk. “All this scheming when you could’ve just said something?”
Michelle froze. Her little power play had backfired spectacularly.
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Chapter 11 Step Aside
Shit. Is she… actually being this generous?
Yet, Caroline’s lips curved into a predatory smile.
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“Oh, honey, skip the sneaky tactics. They don’t work, and they’ll only poison Dominic’s mind. But since you want this job…”
She leaned forward, voice dripping with false sweetness.
“Ten million dollars. Today. The senior secretary position is yours tomorrow. Deal?”
Michelle’s face went rigid. The dream job was starting to look more like a nightmare.
And Caleb? He now looked like he could kill someone.
He grabbed Caroline, stormed out of the room, and pinned her against the wall outside.
“What the hell am I to you?” he snarled, voice deadly quiet. “How dare you sell the positions right in front of me?”
“What are you?” Caroline sneered, jabbing his chest hard. “A useless husband, a negligent boss, a cheating scumbag, and a fool who can’t tell right from wrong!”
Caleb snatched her hand mid–air.
“Who’s the one can’t tell right from wrong? One minute you’re
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playing judge and jury, the next you’re whoring out positions for cash? So, Dominic’s pain means nothing when there’s money on the table, huh?”
“Oh, you want justice?” Caroline’s voice turned arctic. “Let’s drag her ass to the police station. Let her taste the hell I went through. How’s that sound?”
“She’s a patient.” Caleb’s face contorted.
Caroline knew he’d pull that card.
She rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with lazy sarcasm.
“See? I tell you to haul her to the cops, and you won’t. I offer to step aside, and you’re still not happy. Why the hell do you
want?”
“Step aside?” He let out a bitter laugh. “That’s rich. Who are you kidding? You’ve spent years killing yourself at this job. Scared shitless I’d ditched you, weren’t you?”
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