Fourth a Lie

Charges have been brought against TMT Feeds with more videos being leaked of employees physically mutilating the animals while in the chute waiting to be dispatched and one even performing sexual acts. Regardless of the seriousness of evidence, TMT Feeds will most likely be unaffected by allocations due to the law stating it is illegal to enter and film without consent. Therefore, all evidence is inadmissible. Sullivan Sinclair faces fifteen years imprisonment for entering private property and recording restricted activities. To this date, he has not released the names of his accomplices.

Breaking News: Sullivan Sinclair walks free from murder.

In a shocking tragedy today, Sullivan Sinclair—owner and CEO of Big Pharma Sinclair and Sinclair Group—has been interviewed by local enforcement for the murder of Sally Scoon. Ms. Scoon headed the campaign to bring back the right of fur use from fox, rabbit, and other animals. Her social media was thrown into controversy when she filmed the killing and skinning of a rabbit to reveal the process of how pure her fur products are. Mr. Sinclair has declined an interview but eyewitnesses put him at the scene of the crime, the day before the gruesome discovery of Sally Scoon, who’d had her throat slit and skin removed in the same methods as those revealed on her Facebook page.

I slapped a hand over my mouth, reeling away from the computer.

Could the newspapers be right?

Could Sully have been cold-blooded enough to murder a woman in the exact same way as she’d done to countless of creatures?

Yes.

A little voice shouted in my head.

A thousand times yes.

Sully could be cruel, cold, and completely unreachable if he chose. But he was also warm and caring and suffered far too much empathy for creatures he couldn’t save.

He was the flip side of a coin. The yang to yin. The ocean crashing on a beach.

He could be calm and gentle, but he could also be ruthlessly merciless.

My heart thundered as nausea swam up my throat. If he could buy women and farm them out to guests for sex...of course he could kill. Of course he could turn off any guilt or wrongness because in his mind, he wasn’t doing something barbaric; he was doing something protective.

Running shaking fingers through my hair, I glanced away from the countless articles painting Sully in black and white gory detail.

The luxurious hotel room—complete with living room, huge bedroom with a four-poster bed, and giant ensuite—paled under the knowledge of what Sully had done. I’d booked this room with his money. I’d paid for this from wealth he’d made while killing fellow humans.

It made me sick.

All while a part of me understood.

Sully had never pretended to be a good guy. His patience was non-existent when it came to men and women, yet endless when it came to creatures.

He’d removed himself from society and cloistered himself in a paradise no one could find.

For their protection or his?

I skimmed the screen again, wincing at the pages and pages of hits on his name. All either blood-soaked or crime-etched—a manifesto of every dark and disgusting depravity he’d done.

The notorious owner of Sinclair and Sinclair Group, Sullivan Sinclair, was questioned earlier this week on the death of his parents. His own brother, Drake Sinclair, has pointed fingers, suggesting the yachting accident and subsequent drowning wasn’t as innocent as first believed. Sinclair’s lawyers refused to comment.

For Feathered Sake—an online group that has successfully exposed multiple areas of the dairy, meat, and egg industry—has recently grown from a few thousand members strong to close to two hundred thousand members, thanks to a rumour that Sullivan Sinclair has recently given his backing.

The content of their YouTube channel makes even the hardened carnivore shudder as they learn where their pork chops and Sunday roasts come from. We cannot confirm the rumours circulating that their sudden growth or success in breaking into mainstream media with their illegal videos is because of a wealthy benefactor, nor that the lawyers protecting them are associated with Sinclair and Sinclair Group. However, Sullivan Sinclair has become well-known for being more wolf than human, choosing to protect the creatures who can’t speak over his own kind.

Sullivan Sinclair...the enigma.

According to Times Magazine, his personal wealth reached over ten figures last month thanks to breakthroughs and landmark sales. However, he is a man who has vanished from Big Pharma circulation. His board still reports to him, and he is still an active member within the science circles. However, he has not been seen as of late at functions or in city life.

Could it be the constant rumours of how much blood coats his hands keeping him away?

Could his lawyers have suggested he lay low after a recent charge of another member of his board going missing, only to be found a week later with his heart torn out?

Could he be dying and sampling his own medicines in private?

All we can say is Sullivan Sinclair is a monster when it comes to mankind. A well-known murderer, even if he’s never been convicted. He is a man who is seemingly untouchable.

Slouching in the velvet chair nestled in the office space off the bedroom, I chewed my cheek with worry.

I’d been booted from Sully’s islands. I’d been running around like an alarmist, drunk on panic about his survival. I’d spent his money and remained obsessed with the notion of going back as soon as urgently possible.

Yet...

How was I supposed to turn a blind eye to what he’d done?

How could I accept that he might have killed his parents?

That he’d killed people—plural, not single.

That he bought girls and traded in sex and massacred men and attacked companies and earned a reputation for being an untouchable killer who only showed affection for whiskers and paws.

God...does it make me a stupid, stupid girl to trust her heart over the ink online?

To ignore the articles immortalizing his behaviour, warning me away with bold letters?

Could I honestly trust that he’d never hurt me in the same way?

Trust...

I curled my hands, hating the niggle of indecision and slight whisper of self-preservation.

You’re free.

You can go anywhere.

Do anything.

Go home, be safe, ignore a man who deserves to burn in hell.

But...

Trust...

Trust in your heart.

Trust in your own knowledge of him...not what strangers have written.

Sully had sent me away, knowing full well that I had enough ammunition against him to go to the police. The internet had no mention of his Euphoria or goddesses. I could reveal every dirty, torrid thing he’d done.

Yet...he’d released me because he trusted me.

Because he loves me.

When Sully held me, he told me everything I needed to know.

He was a good person—despite doing bad things.

He deserved someone to fight for him—regardless of his past felonies.

Pika and Skittles loved him.

Cal respected him.

And I...

I have enough sticky-taped faith that he will never hurt me...if he’s still alive.

I didn’t know if I’d regret my decision. I had no idea how I’d find my way back to him or if this would turn out to be the most painful choice of my life. But I did know if I allowed online articles to sway my commitment to him—then I didn’t deserve a happily ever after.

Sully had given me his trust.

Either way...I was going to break it.