Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Mothers everywhere looked horrified and angry. Fathers started to yell. A few clambered onto the stage with violence on their faces. The police finally made a move, but Nash and Ethan put a stop to any altercation before it started.
“I have film of him with the diplomat’s daughter hidden away, if you’d like to see it later,” Madison told Winston’s voters. “I didn’t reveal it because our esteemed journalists”—she pointed to the press corps in the middle of the crowd—“have been threatened and paid off not to reveal these things to you. Notice they’ve turned their cameras off in the past few minutes?”
Voters whirled, closing in on the dozen members of the press who found themselves surrounded and wary.
“Turn them on. Turn them on. Turn them on,” one man started chanting.
The crowd joined in, getting louder and louder. One cameraman lifted his equipment and tried to run, but the wall of angry people blocked his path and nudged him back to the grassy spot he’d vacated. Sweating now, the coward set up his tripod. One by one, all the cameras started rolling again.
Near Madison, the stunned newscaster blinked at his phone. When she leaned over to view his screen, she understood why. The viewership had jumped from a few hundred thousand to nearly two million.
A giddy relief swept through Madison. Finally, people were getting the truth. And her three-year nightmare was nearly over. With public pressure and appropriate outrage, Todd Pershing should go down for Brent’s murder. Winston and Agatha couldn’t stop her from divorcing him.
“How dare you backstab your family.” Agatha squeezed her arm. “We accepted you. We gave you everything—”
“Beyond nice clothes, what? Subjugation? Censorship? Suffocation? You, more than anyone, made sure the press never told the voters the truth about the Pershing empire.”
“Tell the folks what you know, Madison,” Genie encouraged.
Madison took the microphone and glared at Agatha. “You played games of semantics to candy-coat reality while you shuffled both cash and favors to make sure that your husband’s constituents never learned about his backdoor dealings and insider trading schemes. You also made voters think that Winston would solve their problems, but he had no intention of doing that because then he’d have nothing to run on. Wake up, people. Trash like this is running your country, and I’m ashamed that I let myself be afraid for so long.”
The crowd cheered for her, emboldening Madison to go on.
“But the problem with the Pershings is far bigger than Todd’s predilection for young girls and Agatha’s manipulation of the press. Or even lying to you about Brent Westbrook’s murder for votes. In case you hadn’t guessed, Winston and Montrose intended to start a lucrative side business of mining the data from the devices they mandated you pay for and install in your cars. That, not safety or a tribute, was their true motive.”
The crowd booed and jeered again, looking angrier by the minute. She felt the wall of sentiment swinging away from the Pershings—and it was glorious.
“They also coerced me into lying to you today. Yep. Todd drugged me at the last public event. He injected me on stage to get your attention and scare me into backing down. So this afternoon, I was supposed to convince you that Todd got me pregnant. But I haven’t let him touch me in over a year. By the way, they’d already chosen the event where they would announce the horrible news that I had miscarried. They scheduled it just before the election for maximum sympathy votes, of course. All lies. All disgusting. I’m sorry I ever let myself be threatened into compliance. Never, ever again.”
Madison lowered the mic and found Matt behind her. Looking at him hurt. She still loved him, even if he’d moved on. They wouldn’t end up together. But she had to thank him for making this emancipating moment possible. He’d promised he would free her from this marriage—and he’d kept his word. “Thank you for this.”
He shook his head. “We’re not done. You deserve more justice. So do all the victims. Anything else you want to get off your chest before we drop more truth bombs?”
She would probably think of a thousand things later, but in this moment, she only had one. “Please tell me you can directly implicate Winston.”
Speaking of…the old man had gotten awfully quiet. A glance back told her why. Logan Edgington and Joaquin Muñoz each had a hold of Winston’s shoulders and held a hand behind his back. Another guy with piercing black eyes and a dark beard—Kane?—detained Montrose.
It was a sweet sight.
“Trust, honey. I’m never going to let you down.” A slow smile spread across Matt’s face. “Ever. Hand that mic to Genie, and we’ll prove it.”
With giddy glee whizzing through her system, Madison settled the handheld into Genie’s palm. “You got this.”