Shirley Griffin stood at the door of the room, her haggard face already streaked with tears.
"Cherie!" Mrs. Griffin walked up to her daughter, her face filled with worry and unease. "Is what that girl said true?"
"I don't know..." Shirley Griffin shook her head, her eyes vacant and dull. "I don't know! I don't know anything!"
'She couldn't believe Cole would go this far for money... and that Joel Yules didn't truly love her!'
Recalling the sweet times they had shared, Shirley Griffin suddenly found it all so ironic.
'This is all so ridiculous!'
"Cherie, don't listen to her nonsense." Cole rushed over to Shirley Griffin, his voice gentle. "I truly love you; nothing else matters! I never did the things she accused me of. She's just jealous and deliberately trying to slander me."
Shirley Griffin's eyelashes trembled as a sliver of hope grew deep within her heart.
Her lips moved, and she spoke hesitantly, "Really? You didn't do those things?"
