"Yeah," Amanda jumped in. "You''re a dude, you won''t lose anything, so chill out."


    "Just get out," Joe snapped, his voice dripping with frustration and disappointment. He felt totally misunderstood by his parents, who seemed clueless about his sadness, pain, and despair. "Joe..." Amanda started, but Craig cut her off. He pulled Amanda aside and tried to calm Joe down, "Alright, we''ll leave. Get some rest. Tomorrow''s a new day." "Yeah, tomorrow, Mom will take you horseback riding," Amanda added, trying to cheer him up.


    "I''m not going anywhere," Joe mumbled, burying his face in his hands. "How can I face anyone like this?"


    "What''s the big deal?" Amanda said, getting anxious. "If anyone dares tough at you, I''ll shut them up."


    "No one else knows about this. I''ve already made sure it won''t spread," Craig reassured him.


    "I don''t care what others think; what I care about is..." Joe''s voice broke. "Now, Sadie must think I''m a joke. She probably despises me, maybe even hates me." "No, she won''t," Amanda quickly said. "Trust me, she has no right to me you for this. Didn''t she herself also..."


    Craig cut Amanda off, ring at her. He whispered that she didn''t know how to talk.


    Amanda quickly shut up, not daring to say more.


    But Joe had already heard it, and heughed bitterly, "Yeah, Sadie and I are fake, but she and Micah are real. I''m such a failure, a total failure."


    "Joe, that''s not what I meant," Amanda quickly apologized. "I mean, even if you both messed up, let it go and just be better in the future."


    "She doesn''t love me," Joe cried miserably. "She doesn''t care that I slept with Barbara to leave; she could even watch me and Barbara hook up with her own eyes."


    Joe had pieced everything together. Last time, Sadie had already stolen evidence but didn''t use it. Tonight, she set up Barbara deliberately to get caught. It was clear she wanted an out, cared nothing for who Joe was with. This realization shattered Joe''s heart.


    "That bitch Sadie," Amanda gritted her teeth, thinking about how Sadie had hurt Joe so much.


    "Joe, if that''s the case, we can call off the engagement," Craig said, feeling that pushing forward was pointless. "There are plenty of good girls out there, not just Sadie."


    Amanda looked at Craig in confusion and whispered, "Call it off? If we cancel now, won''t everyoneugh at us? And people will say we canceled because Tristan lost, then our family will bebeled as untrustworthy."


    "This marriage is already a mess," Craig whispered back. "If they get married, they''ll definitely piss off Micah. Even if the wedding goes smoothly, Micah will stille after us. If they keep this up, we''ll face all kinds of trouble. Canceling now can avoid future problems. We can find a legit reason. For Tristan, we can use Sadie and Micah''s affair as an excuse, which is also reasonable."


    "Alright," Amanda thought it made sense. She hissed, "This is exactly what that bitch Sadie wants. It''s letting her off too easy."