How did I get here?

Chapter 43

"Mrs.Dobbs," I say stopping in my tracks.
"America, I wish I could call you the same thing."
"What do you want," I say, I fully intended to keep this talk short and sweet.
"Let's take a walk," she says. She walks over to the front door and opens it and we go outside.
"Do you know where Tyler is now?" She asks me as we start to wander down the street.
"In jail," I say.
"Exactly, and do you know why he is there?"
"Because he was an abusive husband," I say.
"When are you going to let that lie go?" She asks and that stops me in my tracks.
"It's not a lie," I say.
"Of course it is, the real reason the two of you got a divorce was because you cheated."
"Cheated?" I say. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Of course you were, with King Maxon."
"Mrs.Dobbs you do realize that when we went to the palace is the first time I have seen Maxon in five years?"
"I would have to disagree, it worked out a little to perfectly that you both happened to get divorced at the same time."
I tried to think of a way to prove the truth, but she was right it did look bad.
"I know it looks bad, but I assure you that they had nothing to do with each other's. I had been wanting to divorce Tyler for three years, I just never had the guts to do it."
I didn't know how to convince her, there was no way to prove it.
"Frankly I somehow still don't believe you," she says.
"I can't tell you anymore than I have," she says.
"Miss.Singer, I have a very hard time believing your story because your the girl who defied every rule in the selection. The one who said we should dissolve the castes on national tv, you have no problem with speaking your mind when something is wrong. That is why I simply can't believe you kept quiet for years while Tyler apparently abused you."
I shook my head, she was so good at this, twisting the truth.
"He threatened me and my family, if I said something," I protested.
"I'm sure the King threatened you too, and he would be much more scary than Tyler."
"It's not the same," I tried desperately to protest.
"Then why didn't you say anything?" She asked. She looked directly into my eyes and I could see her evil glare.
"I thought I deserved it," I say.
She smiled a satisfied smirk, "and why on earth would you think that?"
"Because I cheated during the selection," I say, I had never felt so small. I knew she already knew that about me, but it gave her satisfaction to hear it.
"So what would stop you from cheating on Tyler? Miss. Singer it is always easier to cheat once you've done it once."
"But I didn't cheat," I say. I wanted to scream to run away from this horrible nightmare.
"We will see what the press has to say about that," she said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, the last thing I wanted was for this to be printed out all over the country.
"All the odds are against you, I will bring these points to the press and Tyler will be released in no time, and with any luck you will take his place."
"What do you want from me?" I croaked out.
"You single handily ruined my life and now I'm just returning the favor," she said matter of factly.
"I didn't," I started, but she was quick to interrupt me.
"But you did, my son isn't free and you will pay for that."
"Please don't do this it's not true, not a single sentence."
"Tell me this America, when was the last time you kissed King Maxon?"
I swallowed, I knew I needed to tell the truth, but that was all to frightening.
"Let's See was it five years ago, several months ago when you first arrived at the palace, or several weeks ago?" She continued to taunt me.
"I have only kissed him once since the selection," I say so quiet I'm sure only she could hear.
"Were you married to my son at that point?" She asked, her eyes like daggers.
"It was a long time after the divorce," I say.
"So you did want to be with him?" She asked.
"I don't know!" I screamed and ran a hand gently through my hair.
"That's the problem with you stupid girl, you don't know what you want. This is the exact reason I'm bringing this to the press immediately."
"What are you going to say to them?" I asked, so completely terrified to know the answer.
"I'm going to tell them the whole story how you've cheated twice and when I tried to talk to you about it rationally you blew up," she says simply.
"So your going to lie?" I say flatly.
"I speak only the truth, good day Miss. Singer, be looking for your names in the headlines," she says and she slips on her sunglasses and walks away. I can't do this, I've got to quit my job, say good bye to Maxon, and move out of the country as far as I can possibly get. I run back to my moms house as fast as I can and play out in my head how I'm going to tell Maxon all of this. As I enter the door I don't look at a single member of my family I head right upstairs and grab my cell phone. I scroll through my contacts until I find Maxon's, I take a deep breath before I hit the call button, here goes nothing.....