Abstinence

Chapter 35.

"Alice!" My name is being called forcing me awake from my slumber. "Miss Greene!"

The voice belongs to Mrs. Sutter but I don't really want to be awake yet. I stir in the bed forcing my eyes open so I can find out her reasoning for waking me. "Miss Greene, you have to listen to this."

She doesn't wait for me to sit up before shoving an iPad in my face. I rub the sleep out of my eyes as I sit up in the bed and stare at the news reporter on the screen.

"Welcome back to the Morning Tea I'm Sarah Ferry and if you're just tuning in, we're talking about the billionaire and CEO of Stymest Enterprises, Hayden Stymest who was arrested and charged with the raping of his friend Lina Burke three months ago. He was set to a hearing next week where Miss Burke and her witness Ryder Flowe were to take the stand. Sources tell us, and these have been confirmed, that Mr. Flowe has taken back everything he said. He went to the police last night and said everything he told the police was a lie. Timothy Evens has more on this story, Alec."

He did it? Ryder came forth with the truth? Does this mean Hayden is going to be released? Hayden is going to be able to come back home?

"Yes Sarah, we actually have the taped confession of Ryder Flowe explaining how he and Miss Burke set Mr. Stymest up and what his role is in all of this is. The tape is over three hours long as the police interrogated Mr. Flowe with question after question. Take a look at some of that clip here."

The video cuts to Ryder in an interrogation room and the station where Hayden was first arrested. He begins to explain everything to the officer that he told me while he was in my office. The officers were questioning him and he was answering them all. I'm glad that he's doing this, even if he's not doing it for Hayden, he is still doing it. He's making himself look bad and he's making Hayden look better in the eyes of anyone who's watching.

The screen goes from the interrogation room back to the man known as Alec, "In another clip of the three hour interrogation Mr. Burke names Alice Greene, the girlfriend of Hayden Stymest who was shot at a two weeks ago on her lunch break at her job, as the reason why he decided to come clean about this situation. Have a look at that here."

"Why did Miss Burke choose Mr. Stymest as her victim?" The Officer asked Ryder.

"She did it for the same reasons I did; jealousy, spite, anger, love." Ryder answers the detective. "She wanted Hayden and I wanted Alice. She came up with this plan and I went along with it because of my hatred for Hayden and my obsession with Alice, and it was the other way around for her."

"Why come out now? Why not see this through the end?"

"Alice." He answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "When I found out what happened to her, I knew I couldn't go through with this any longer. I never wanted her to get hurt in all of this."

"You only wanted to hurt Hayden." The officer concludes.

"Yes." Ryder's honesty shown for the entire world to see.

"Mr. Stymest will be released Miss Greene." Her smile is broad and contagious causing a large smile to overtake me. I am no longer tired, sleep is the last thing on my mind after hearing this news. This is the best news to ever have been awoken to. "They said he should be getting released this afternoon and all of the charges against were dropped."

"This afternoon?" This all seems so surreal. Hayden is actually going to be free from everything?

"Yes ma'am."

But I have to work, I just got back to work from the recent injury. I can't take off, can I? My previous smile is replaced with a frown, how will this work? Arrangements need to be maid to pick him up and I need to decide if I'm going to go to work or stay home to be there when he comes home. "Everything okay?" Mrs. Sutter notices my apprehension.