Presented by SHANNON MUIR’S INFINITE HOUSE OF BOOKS
SPONTANEOUS CHOICES SHORTS features short serialized fiction by author Shannon Muir, that may be later released as part of e-book or print collections. In 2019, these serials will appear every second and fourth Thursday (and fifth Thursdays as they occur).
This week continues a new serialized story, “A Second La Chance,” about a young woman who originally hoped to have the children of a wealthy spoiled man to get paid off to leave him, but ends up with more than she ever bargained for when deciding to take a chance to start a new life for herself.
This is part 2 of 16.
I couldn’t wait to complete the interview and get out of that studio. My agent told me this exclusive scoop of learning more about the woman behind the viral scandal would net a sizable sum, and right now I needed every bit of it.
“I guess what you’re wanting to know is who let people know who I was. Someone began making comments about who I really was and my past on the videos.”
“Everyone knows that, dearie,” the interviewer said in a patronizing tone instead of using my name, Rikah. “But people want to know the dirt. Who was that person?”
I knew things had to come to this moment eventually, but I kind of hoped to put it off a while longer. Edmond and I may never have loved one another, but if I kept a lot of the details murky, I’d hoped maybe I could shelter them for a few years of innocence. My hope had been to talk more about my future after saying the bare minimum needed to establish my past, but fortune did not favor me this day.
“Edmond LaChance,” I told the interviewer, who audibly gasped – along with the entire studio audience.
It took a minute for the interviewer to recover from that. They’d probably edit around it for a suspenseful commercial break anyway.
“But why?” the interviewer asked. “Didn’t he need to keep up the charade of being married to you?”
“That’s the exact reason why,” I said, trying to keep emotion out of my voice. “For resentment and revenge.”