«What do you mean, ‘how’ will our lives change?» Olivia continued, her voice dripping with false cheer. «We’ll move back into our apartment. You’ll go back to work. We can finally have a baby!»
«What baby?» Mark stammered.
«Emily, now is not the time for a child,» Mark mumbled.
«I want a divorce,» Olivia said, her smile vanishing.
«Good luck with that,» Mark sneered. «You think you can get rid of me that easily?»
«I know you’ve been lying about your injury,» Olivia said quietly. «And I know about the car wash.»
«How?» Mark paled. He looked from Olivia to Jessica, his face contorted with rage. «You! It’s all your fault!» he screamed, lunging at Jessica and shoving her hard toward the road.
Jessica, caught off guard, stumbled and fell onto the asphalt just as a car came speeding around the corner. The driver swerved, narrowly avoiding her.
James tried to run, but Alex tackled him, restraining him easily. The police and an ambulance arrived shortly after. Jessica was taken to the hospital, conscious but in pain.
«My apartment keys are in my purse,» she whispered to Olivia as they loaded her into the ambulance. «Go there. In the living room, there’s a big, beautiful flower. Please, just water it for me.»
Later that night, at Jessica’s apartment, Chloe looked at the flower in confusion. «I don’t get it,» she said. «This plant is artificial.»
Olivia carefully lifted the fake plant from its pot. At the bottom lay a folder. Inside were all the permits and ownership documents for Mark’s car wash. But there was no dashcam.
Her phone rang. It was Ben. She explained the situation, telling him the dashcam was likely destroyed.
«But I do have some good news,» she said. «Mark has fully recovered from his injuries. He can walk.»
Over the next few weeks, led by Jessica, the friends launched a social media campaign, asking for witnesses to the accident. A few people came forward with footage of Mark speeding and running red lights on other occasions, but not the accident itself. Then, a man called, claiming he had the video and setting up a meeting in a park.
The next evening, Olivia and Chloe met the man, with Ben hiding nearby. The man, disguised in a hat, sunglasses, and a fake beard, demanded an exorbitant sum of money for the video. As he spoke, he scratched his neck, and Olivia saw a familiar tattoo on his stomach. It was Dave, Mark’s police officer friend. Playing along, she agreed to his terms, knowing he had no video and was just trying to extort them.
Disheartened, Olivia and Ben decided to visit the crash site one last time. They noticed a bank on the corner with a security camera pointed directly at the intersection. Inside, they were shocked to find Ryan working as a security guard. He refused to help them, but just then, the head of the bank’s security, Daniel Thompson—the father of one of Olivia’s students—appeared. An hour later, they walked out with a flash drive containing a crystal-clear video of the entire accident.
A month later, the divorce was finalized. As Olivia left the courthouse, she breathed a sigh of true freedom. Mark exited shortly after, smug that Olivia hadn’t pursued a claim on his car wash.
«Don’t forget you’re about to be a father,» Chloe called after him sarcastically. His good mood vanished. He had been released on bail for the assault on Jessica and was now facing a host of other charges. His car wash was found to be operating illegally, and Dave, after being caught in a sting operation for extortion, had confessed to falsifying the accident report.
James’s trial was swift. Combined with the tax evasion, the assault, and the new evidence in the car accident, he was sentenced to a short but real prison term. His friend Dave was already serving a seven-year sentence.
In the months that followed, Olivia’s life began to blossom. Her relationship with Ben grew slowly, built on a foundation of mutual respect and genuine affection. She even reconciled with Jessica, the two women bonding over their shared experience and supporting each other as friendly acquaintances.
One sunny afternoon, sitting in a café with Chloe, Olivia smiled. «You know,» she said, «they say life unfolds exactly as it should. If it weren’t for Mark’s betrayal, I might still be living in that fog, blaming myself for everything.» Now, looking out at the bustling street, she felt truly happy, her life finally free from betrayal, infidelity, and deceit.
