2: 2
I was shaking with rage.
My fingers around the phone had gone slightly white.
*I've never done that kind of work! This is slander. I can sue you!*
*Go ahead and sue! I'm just telling the truth!*
He went offline.
There was a knot of anger stuck in my chest, and I couldn't swallow it or force it out.
Then another notification popped up on TikTok.
I tapped it.
My mother-in-law had posted three question marks under that comment.
The next second, Theodore pushed the door open.
His face was full of fury.
"My mom saw that comment, and now she's asking me what's going on!"
"Cynthia, tell me, what am I supposed to say to my mother?"
He said it through gritted teeth, glaring at me.
My eyes went red at once.
"Theodore, someone is slandering me! I never did anything like that!"
"If you don't believe me, ask Lois James. She worked with me in Los Angeles. She knows exactly what I did there."
"Ha!" Theodore sneered.
"You two are close friends. Of course she'll take your side!"
He looked me up and down, like he was looking at a piece of garbage.
"I'm sleeping in the guest room tonight."
And with that, he turned and walked out.
I looked at all the red around me.
On the bed, the quilt embroidered with the double-happiness character.
Above the headboard, the wedding photo of me and Theodore.
On the window, the static cling stickers that read "A Hundred Years of Harmony."
Even the bathroom mat was red.
Suddenly this whole wedding felt like a joke.
Tears fell in big drops onto the back of my hand.
I didn't know how to explain.
No matter how I explained, none of them would believe me.
All because of one stranger's lie online.
The happy life that had just begun was already shattered.
My phone rang. I picked it up and looked. It was my mom.
I wiped at my tears in a hurry, answered, and tried to make my voice sound a little more normal.
"Mom."
"Cyn, that thing..."
My mom started, then stopped.
"I saw the video you posted, and there's a comment underneath saying something about an escort."
"Your mother-in-law just called me too. Cyn, is there something you've been keeping from me?"
Even my mom had seen that comment.
"Mom!" I practically shouted it.
"I didn't!"
"Didn't you come to my shared apartment in Los Angeles? You and Dad came to my company to pick me up!"
"I worked in administration in Los Angeles. You both know that, don't you?"
"Even you don't believe me?"
I cried harder, my shoulders shaking and shaking, unable to stop.
"No, no, Mom doesn't doubt you!"
"Silly girl, I was just asking. Why are you crying now!"
"Don't cry, don't cry. Mom believes you, I believe you!"
"If you didn't do it, then why would that person say something like that in the comments?"
Exactly! I didn't understand it either!
He and I didn't even know each other.
There was no reason for him to come under my video and leave a comment like that.
Was he doing it deliberately, to ruin me like this?
My mom comforted me a little and told me not to think about it too much.
And at the end, she added.
"Just delete the video. It's not good for so many people to see it."
My mom still didn't believe me.
The call ended, and I lay down on the wedding bed.
Theodore and I had dated for a year, but we had never slept together.
He was fairly traditional and minded premarital sex a little.
When a man himself suggests waiting until after marriage, of course I was pleased.
It meant he respected me.
It was the first time for both of us, and we especially treasured our wedding night.
I never imagined that one offhand line from a stranger.
Would shatter that happiness, that anticipation.
I opened his profile and started going through his videos, one by one.
I wanted to see exactly what this man hiding behind the screen really looked like!
