Chapter 14*

Adam knew that tonight was going to be a test of his fresh start, but he had no idea how much of one it would be until that article came out and he had to stop himself from crossing the room and strangling the life out of Billy.

Fortunately, Sharon, ever his savior, marched right up to the guy and punched him in the eye so hard that he stumbled back, tripped on one of Abby's party decorations, and fell right into the punch bowl. It was a glorious sight.

Jack and Chance rushed to Billy's side to help him up. When he was standing again, he went to talk to Sharon, but she held up a hand and growled, "Don't." Then she paced for a moment. When she stopped, she drew a deep breath, steeled her shoulders and gave Billy a look that could have killed. "It's my turn to talk and you're going to listen. Understand?"

Billy nodded, slightly frightened, and Adam clasped his hands together with glee over the set down Billy was about to get from Sharon. By going after him through Faith, again, he had awakened the lioness inside of Sharon.

"Sixteen years ago, Cassie got into a car and never came home again," she started. "Because I understand what it is like to lose a child, I've tried my best to be empathetic when it comes to your need to lash out at Adam over Delia's loss."

Billy blinked and looked down contritely. "But, I've had it," she added. "I can no longer look the other way while you use my daughter to fuel your vendetta. I have no idea how you found out about our conversation on the plane, but the details of that discussion were never meant to become public knowledge. It was a private conversation between me, Adam, and my children to explain to them why he did what he did and why I forgave him for it. And the fact that you took that and twisted it to fit your own agenda infuriates me."

"Do you know what this will do to Faith? Or, more importantly, do you care?" she asked. "Probably not. Because, if you did, you would have thought twice before writing it, let alone posting it."

"Sharon, I…" Billy started to explain, but she cut him off with a glare. "The last time you dragged Faith into your expose about Adam, she ended up enduring months of merciless bullying from the kids at her school, turning to alcohol to cope with the stress, and then getting behind the wheel of a truck and crashing it on the side of the road in the middle of the night in a desperate effort to escape the pain and humiliation you caused. If Adam hadn't found her and brought her to the hospital, she'd be dead and Nick and I would be grieving the loss of another daughter right now."

"I can't risk losing her again because of your callous disregard for the collateral damage you cause in your need to assuage your own guilt over Delia's death by attacking Adam. So, here's what's going to happen. In the next 72 hours, you'll be receiving two generous offers to buy out your stake in Chancellor Communications. One will be from Newman Media to acquire the corporation in full and merge it into theirs. The other one will be from me," she paused and then nodded her head toward Phyllis as she said, "and Phyllis. It will offer to buy out only your stake of the company. Lily stays. The name stays. But the three of us will operate it as partners while you take the money and run."

When Phyllis gasped in shock at being brought into the conversation, Sharon turned to her and said, "Come on. You know you're bored as hell staking out the lobby of that hotel everyday. And I happen to know for a fact that Abby wants it back. I'm sure she'd be happy to buy it at fair market value. Then you can take that money and invest it back into what you thrive on," Sharon smiled at Phyliss and added, "the power of controlling information that can make other people's lives miserable."

Phyllis nodded and gave a reluctant smile at what Adam knew was an accurate assessment of Sharon's rival.

"I highly suggest that you accept one of these offers and then use the funds to pay for therapy to work through your trauma and grief over the loss of your daughter. Once you've done that, invest the balance in creating a foundation in Delia's name or start a new business of your own - not in communications - that will allow you to leave a legacy for Johnny and Katie that Delia would be proud of. Because, Billy, you need to let go and move forward. For your sake, your children's, and for those of us who end up being collateral damage in your quest to make Adam pay for your pain."

"He'll never change, Sharon," was Billy's response. "He is fooling all of you with this redemption act."

"No, he isn't."

"How do you know?"

"Because he finally wants it for himself," she said as she looked over at him, tears misting in her eyes, which were filled with love and pride.

Adam remembered their conversation in his penthouse the day he proposed and she turned him down. He'd told her that he could change if he had her, but she said the only way he would be able to change, really change, is if he wanted it for himself.

"I'll reserve the right to say 'I told you so' when Adam reverts back to his old ways," Billy snarked.

"Go ahead and do that. In the meantime, you can focus on yourself, your family, and repairing the damage this little stunt has caused in your relationship with Lily, who walked out right after you fell in the punch bowl."

"Lily…" Billy looked around the room and didn't see her and started to freak out.

"You didn't clear this with her first, did you?" Sharon asked.

"No."

"Because you knew she'd never go for it. You hoped you'd fare better asking for forgiveness than permission. Because she always forgives you. Just like Victoria did. Until you stop being a loveable screw-up and just become a selfish asshole, right?"

Billy looked chagrined as Sharon walked toward him. "You can choose not to take either of the offers, but you should think twice before digging in your heels on this. Because I swear to God that I will crush you like a bug if you ever publish another expose about Adam and his past that involves my daughter again."

"You?" Billy snarked, clearly unaware that he should be afraid for his very life right now, as Sharon was about to go in for the kill.

"Yes. Me. If you don't take the buyout, I will go to Victor and Adam with every dirty little secret I know about you and let them use you as clickbait for Newman Media for years to come."

"You're bluffing. You don't know anything about me that can destroy my life."

"Don't I?" she asked. "Are you sure? Because I find that people, including you, are not very careful about the private conversations they have in a very public space."

When Billy's eyes went wide and he sank down into a nearby chair, Sharon walked over, put her hand on the back of it and leaned down toward him, "I happen to know that Lily loves that new Netflix show, Bridgerton, and that you have argued with her on whether Penelope really could have pulled off being Lady Whistledown all that time without anyone finding out. Well, Billy, consider me Genoa City's Lady Whistledown. It's amazing what people say in public when they think no one is listening, isn't it?"

When Billy actually gulped, a snicker escaped Adam's lips unbidden and he brought a hand up to cover it. She was going for broke and it was a joy to see.

Suddenly, Sharon straightened up and brushed her hands together like one does when they've finished cleaning up a mess. "Now that we've got that cleared up, you might want to head home and change. That punch will stain your expensive suit. And we have to get back to the party. I'm dying to find out the gender of the baby."

Just like that, Sharon was done. Billy had been dismissed. She'd managed to do in one conversation what he and Victor hadn't been able to accomplish in years.

Adam didn't think he could fall more in love with that woman.

But he was wrong.