Chapter 129: Taking Advantage of the Situation
[Chapter 130: Taking Advantage of the Situation]
In the morning, Matthew Broderick dressed in a tailored suit and came downstairs. Sarah had already prepared breakfast. The couple shared a harmonious atmosphere, seemingly with no rifts between them. Just last night, they reached a new agreement that once Broderick finished up his current commitments and Sarah snagged a Golden Globe, they would find a willing third party to join their game.
They could have started sooner, but Sarah decided to hold off due to her pregnancy, planning to wait until after a potential miscarriage before diving into the fun. She hadn't informed Broderick about the pregnancy yet, planning to surprise him when her baby bump started to show and the three-person dynamic kicked in. The thought of her husband watching her with another person sent a thrill down her spine. If she could pull Hawke's sorry self into it, she thought it would be even more intriguing.
Broderick quickly finished his breakfast and said, "I need to get ready for a New Year's party; I might be busy for a while. The public opinion on you has already flipped. If anyone gives you trouble later, just pin it all on me."
Sarah laughed and replied, "You're my husband; I won't let you off that easily."
...
After finishing breakfast, Broderick grabbed his briefcase and left for work. Sarah accompanied him to the car. When he arrived at Ackerman Films in Santa Monica, Broderick noticed many people were giving him odd looks. He glanced around, and the stares quickly retreated.
Once in his office, Broderick asked his secretary for several newspapers to see how the media had been attacking him as a bad husband. Sure enough, many outlets branded him as a disgrace among men, with some even labeling him an abuser. Broderick wasn't a celebrity and didn't really care about that. However, when he turned to the Los Angeles Times, the headline on the entertainment section made him frown: "Sarah Parker: A Sad and Pathetic Woman - Weakness and Compromise Only Enable the Abuser." The entire piece lamented Sarah's situation and criticized her choices, calling her a bad role model.
The Hollywood Reporter slammed Sarah for being entirely different from the character she portrayed on screen, stating she wasn't a modern woman but rather lived decades behind the times.