Page 152 of Sin

She sets her pen down. “Here is what you need to understand. You may have done something morally complicated. That is not the same as forfeiting your rights.”

The words hit strangely.

She continues, “You are still entitled to privacy, protection from harassment, and you are still entitled to pursue another job without being smeared as revenge.”

My eyes burn. Oh no. Not here in front of terrifying lawyer Barbie.

Mara reaches for a tissue box and slides it across the desk without comment and I take one.

“Sorry,” I mutter.

“Don’t apologize to me for having a normal human response to public humiliation.”

Well. Now I need two tissues.

My phone vibrates in my bag. Then again. Then again.

Mara’s eyes flicker to it. “Is that normal?”

“No. Nothing about today is normal.”

“Check it.”

I pull out my phone. There are messages from Opal. A lot of them.

Opal York

Laurel, CALL ME!

Wait, don’t call me if you’re driving.

Don’t look at the internet!!

Video

Someone in accounting just sent this to me.

My stomach twists. Then I see the missed calls.

Unknown number.

Unknown number.

Unknown number.

The list goes on as a new text appears from a number I don’t recognize.

Homewrecker.

My breath stops as another one comes through.

Everyone knows it was you.

The room tilts slightly.

Mara stands. “Laurel?”

I don’t answer because my thumb has moved without permission and opened the link Opal sent. A video loads. A woman that I assume is Jenna’s mother appears on-screen, face flushed, eyes bright with the righteous fury of a woman who has never met a boundary she couldn’t steamroll for engagement. I hear my name before I can mute it.