Chapter 0331
Mabel however was a wild card and full of rage. As she stormed toward Susan, Susan stood up to face
her head on.
“What the hell has happened to your news organization that you are going to call someone a whore on camera, to their face, in their own home?” Mabel demanded. “Where are your ethics? Where is your integrity?”
“These are legitimate questions,” Susan tried to say, while avoiding Mabel’s threatening glare.
“Bullshit.” Mabel said what we were all thinking. “You lied to me about what you wanted from this interview. How long have we worked together in the past.” Mabel narrowed her eyes. “How much is Mr. Hatfield Senior paying you?”
Susan paled slightly.
“I knew it.” Mabel said.
Logan flopped back down onto his seat with a loud exhale. I took his hand this time. We both needed the connection.
“He’s a powerful man,” Susan said.
“He’s a coward who hides behind money,” Mabel said. “Are you or are you not a reputable journalist? How many times have I watched you investigate members of the high society without caring about ramifications? You had the truth on your side. What’s changed?”
Susan looked over at us. Her gaze lingered on me. I held it, staring back at the woman who had just called me a whore and implied I purposefully seduced Logan and got him drunk so he would marry me.
I wasn’t used to the attention of reporters and cameras, but that didn’t mean I would bow down to a bully I had my pride, shaken as it was.
“You are wrong about me,” I told her. “Our history isn’t pretty, but I never cared about Logan’s money. We met in Vegas. We were both drunk. We got married and then it fell apart for a while… There are moments! am ashamed of. But I care about my husband. I’m tired of hiding it. Please. At least tell the truth.”
Susan held my gaze a moment more, and then she sighed. I’d guessed you wouldn’t be the pushover he thinks you are. He expected you to start crying. He even thought I could somehow get Logan to agree with my points.”
“Mr. Hatfield Senior is responsible for this then,” Mabel said.
“He threatened my job,” Susan said. “My entire livelihood. My twenty–five year career… He could take it all away just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “I couldn’t see a way out of it.”
“You’ve gotten soft,” Mabel said. “Giving in to threats like that.”
“I’m not the fearless woman I used to be,” Susan admitted. “I have a family now. A mortgage. People who depend on me.
“And the truth?” Mabel–said. “What about that? You think your kids are going to be proud of you for calling an innocent woman a whore on national television?”
Chapter 0331
Susan frowned. “No. They wouldn’t.”
+25 BONUS
“You’ve forgotten yourself, Susan,” Mabel pushed. “But it’s not too late. We can trash that previous footage and start over. You just have to be genuine. There are still tough questions you can ask that my clients will answer. You can still have your gotchas. You don’t have to go low to do it.”
“Miss Willman,” Logan said, speaking up. His voice was calmer than before, more like himself. “I can promise I will give you an interview that will gain attention and hold it. It will help make you a champion rather than a villain.”
“How can you promise that?” Susan asked.
“I give a lot of interviews, but I’m hardly ever fully honest. That’s how celebrity works. You always have to keep a piece of yourself hidden, Logan said. “But I’m ready to share those hidden pieces with you.”
Susan seemed interested now. She sat back down. “Tell me one thing that’s true, and maybe I’ll believe you.”
Logan glanced at me. “I wanted Hazel to be mine from the moment I saw her.”