The Bond Between Us ( Anastasia and Herman) novel Chapter 1188

Autumn sat there, too stunned to speak, every word of the scolding leaving her frozen in place. She hadn’t planned for any of this—she just wanted to get away from Mr. Walker, to find out the truth about Devin’s death.

“Say something! What, cat got your tongue now? Weren’t you chatty enough at the police station? Telling them you and Devin were classmates, lovers, even saying you had a son together, that you went to his grave to mourn him. Why so quiet all of a sudden?”

Autumn tried to explain, her voice trembling. “I didn’t know it would turn out like this. They thought I was a kidnapper, so I just made something up. I figured this was H City, it wouldn’t come back to you…”

She didn’t get to finish. The crack of Mr. Walker’s slap rang out in the room, sharp and final. The force of it knocked Autumn off balance and she tumbled onto the couch.

Her cheek burned, and she clutched her face, staring at Mr. Walker in shock. Before she could say a word, tears welled up in her eyes.

That slap carried every ounce of anger Mr. Walker had been holding in. All the resentment he’d swallowed for so long came pouring out in that single moment.

He’d been bottling it up for weeks. Playing the fool, swallowing his pride, pretending in front of everyone that the boy was really his own. No one knew how humiliating it was. The pressure at work, he bore alone—Autumn never had his back. Back in their hometown, at least she’d handled the family’s social ties, but ever since they moved to Riverdale, her heart was somewhere else entirely.

She was stuck in the past with Devin, busy fighting for Julie, stirring up trouble for the Salstrom family. Mr. Walker had covered for her, bent his principles, done things he never imagined just to keep her out of trouble.

And for what? Humiliation. Now he was a joke, the butt of every whisper in Riverdale.

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