A triumphant smirk spread across Brenda’s face as she watched me reel from the slap. "Scarlett, there's your proof—you have an STD! Now what do you have to say for yourself?"
I clutched the bottle tightly and pointed to the date, retorting, "This has to be a fake! I was on a business trip in Portland on August 12th. I've never even been to Oak Creek Clinic!"
She raised a hand to the heavens. "I swear on my life, if I forged this bottle, may I be struck by lightning the second I walk out that door!"
Hearing her make such a vicious vow, the guests began to waver.
"Oh my God, everyone stay away from her. STDs are contagious."
"You really can't judge a book by its cover. She looks so respectable, but she has a disease like that!"
"Her poor in-laws. What terrible luck."
Everyone was starting to side with Brenda. If I couldn't prove my innocence, my life would be a repeat of the last one—filled with humiliation and ridicule.
But if the bottle wasn't a fake…where did it come from? I'd never been to that clinic. Never!
Just then, Tiffany grabbed Brenda's arm, her face pale, and whispered, "Mom, didn't I tell you to throw this away? Why did you keep it?"
My head snapped toward her. "Tiffany, you knew about this?"
Her eyes darted away as she stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. Brenda answered for her, "We found this in the trash at home. Tiffany has a kind heart and wanted to spare you the humiliation, so she told me to destroy it and pretend nothing ever happened."
I suddenly remembered something. Once, Tiffany told me she had lost her insurance card and was waiting for a replacement. She borrowed mine to get a prescription for contact lenses.
All the pieces clicked into place. I finally understood—the bottle was real, but the person with the disease was Tiffany! She was terrified of anyone finding out she had an STD, so she used my insurance card to see a doctor.
Brenda found the bottle, and Tiffany just let me take the blame. At the same time, she was afraid Brenda would make a big scene and expose the truth, which is why she kept trying to shut her mother up.
In my past life, while I was drowning in rumors that would eventually kill me, Tiffany was off enjoying her honeymoon in Italy with her new husband.
Since she was the architect of my misfortune, she would have no one to blame but herself for what came next.
