Chapter 5

Timing really was everything, Billy mused as he sipped his drink by the open bar that Adam and Victor had so generously provided.

He didn't want to be here tonight, but he couldn't let an opportunity to cover potential disaster pass him by. He'd gotten an anonymous tip that sparks were going to fly at the show between Adam's current and former lovers, so he showed up with his camera app ready to record the shenanigans that would hopefully lead to Newman Media - and Adam's - downfall.

What Billy didn't expect to record, however, were the fireworks between Adam and Sharon. He'd left the ballroom to run to the bar to fortify himself with a drink while he waited for the fun stuff to happen only to run smack dab into the best story he could hope to find that night.

Adam was heading toward the men's restroom just as Sharon was exiting the ladie's restroom and the two collided. After their initial shock wore off, they just stood there in each other's embrace. While nothing untoward happened, everything did. Billy could feel the sexual tension pulsating between them even from twenty feet away. But there was also a tenderness in their embrace, he noticed, that indicated just how in love they were.

Billy knew that Adam was in love with Sharon, but he thought Sharon had the good sense to be over Adam. Sharon has pawned their viral kiss as a lapse in judgment based, but Billy now knew it was so much more than that. Sharon so passionately defended adam, even against her husband, because she loved him.

That must also be why she has been avoiding him since his kidney donation. Something must have happened between them to get them to retreat to their own corners, where Sharon doubled down on a life with Rey while Adam focused on wrangling Chelsea and Sally.

Interesting.

Billy sat his drink back down on the bar and swiped through the photos he had taken. Out of context, they looked like a secret rendezvous of star-crossed lovers, not an accidental run-on outside the restrooms. If he published them with no context, he would ignite a scandal that would set the town on fire.

Ideally, he would make Adam's life even more miserable than it already was. But, he would also ruin Sharon's peace. If he ruined Sharon's peace, he'd ruin Faith's. If he did that, he might set her back on a downward spiral. Could he live with himself if his actions once again put Faith in danger?

But, publishing the photos could also backfire. Adam could end up with the one thing he wants more than anything if Sharon decided enough was enough and ditched Rey for him. It would be a gamble.

Billy could never resist a bet.