Chapter 38

Chloe’s POV

I did not stop shaking.

Even after the screaming stopped. Even after Mrs. Grace rushed into the room and wrapped her arms around me. Even after my throat burned and my chest ached from the force of it.

My name was still on the screen.

It did not matter how many times I refreshed the page. It did not disappear. The words stayed exactly where they were, bold and cruel, shaped to destroy me.

I sat on the edge of the bed with the phone in my hand, my fingers numb.

Mrs. Grace knelt in front of me. “Breathe,” she said softly. “You must breathe.”

“I did nothing wrong,” I whispered. My voice sounded distant, like it belonged to someone else. “I did nothing.”

“I know,” she replied.

“They made it sound like I sleep with men for money,” I said. “Like I am a thing. Like I have no face. No family.”

She took the phone from my hand gently. “Do not read anymore.”

“I have to,” I said. “Everyone else already has.”