Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 1337

This is already a criminal offense. If the Sutton family decides to press charges, he could end up in prison for a long time.

A serious sentence, too.

Winona frowned. “Are you sure it was rape?”

Janelle nodded miserably. “They’ve got the video! My idiot son… He’s really going to be the death of me, I swear…”

Janelle was a mess—angry, worried, and totally at a loss.

She was furious that her son could do something so monstrous.

She was terrified the Suttons would actually take this to court.

She desperately wanted to find a solution, but she just couldn’t see a way out.

It was tearing her apart…

Elysia grabbed some tissues and wiped away Janelle’s tears. “What are the Suttons saying right now?”

Janelle choked out, “They want the two of them to get married as soon as possible. After what happened—God knows if Beatrix is pregnant—they don’t want their daughter branded with a shotgun wedding or, worse, as an unwed mother.”

“Richard and I, of course, don’t have any objections. We’ve been hoping Keaton would settle down.”

“But that stubborn boy just refuses. He said he’ll do anything to make it right with the Suttons, but he absolutely will not marry Beatrix.”

“We don’t even know if it’s because he doesn’t like Beatrix, or if he just doesn’t want to get married, period.”

“He won’t say. He just keeps insisting he won’t marry her, won’t do it, no way.”

“And the Suttons have made it clear—if he doesn’t agree to the wedding, they’re going straight to the police.”

“If they slap him with a rape charge, his life is over. Completely over.”

“Richard and I have talked to him privately, tried every argument we can think of. He’s a grown man, he knows what’s at stake, but he just won’t budge!”

“He’d rather ruin his whole future, even risk getting beaten to death by his father, than marry Beatrix.”

Winona frowned deeper. “Did he admit to raping Beatrix?”

He kissed her, hands roaming over her bare skin…

He forced himself on her right there, by the hotel door, while she kept crying and trying to fight him off—all the way from the door to the bed.

The whole time, Beatrix was sobbing, struggling…

Elysia and Winona watched, deeply uncomfortable, faces tense and drawn.

It was undeniable evidence. If this went to the police, Keaton would almost certainly be convicted.

They quickly shut the video off and handed Janelle her phone.

Elysia noticed something was off about Keaton in the footage.

She wasn’t sure if he was on something—pills, alcohol, or whatever—but she had no proof, so she just asked quietly,

“Why was there a security camera in the hotel room?”