Page 4 of Between the Lines

Darcy kept talking, as if Paige wanted to know more. “They know what you show them. The polished version you share on TikTok. The version that makes them feel hopeful. The version that sells them a dream.”

Paige’s hand moved toward her phone without thinking. She caught herself and wrapped her fingers around the rail instead. Her voice came out calm. “The only things I sell are pans.” So far. But that would change if the deal with Luminelle came through.

“You sell aspiration,” Darcy said. “And everyone knows influence is the best version of currency.”

The muscles in Paige’s jaw tightened.

Darcy’s smile was unwavering. “I mean no shade. You’re very good at what you do.”

Paige made a choice. She could keep standing here, letting Darcy circle her like a shark in designer activewear. Or she could cut to the heart of it.

And that was much more her style.

Paige looked at Darcy. “If you have something you want to say, just say it. Plainly.”

Darcy blinked, as if Paige had surprised her. Then her smile turned almost fond. “Plainly,” Darcy repeated. “All right.

“I watched your videos last night,” she said. “I went back farther than most people do. I don’t usually binge, but…” She waved a hand. “I got curious.”

Paige’s spine went rigid, but she tried to keep her face composed. “A lot of people watch my videos. That’s what they’re there for.”

Darcy nodded. “Yes. But most people watch and move on. They like your hair, your look, your confidence. They want your advice. They want your routines. They want to believe a life can be rebuilt just as neatly as yours.”

Paige didn’t speak. She couldn’t.

Darcy leaned slightly closer, lowering her voice as if sharing a secret that wasn’t meant for anyone else at the fitness center. “I’m not most people.”

A shiver of anxiety went through Paige. This woman was strange and vaguely threatening. At least that’s how Paige was feeling. Vaguely threatened.

Darcy’s eyes were sharp now, smile still in place like a mask. “You talk a lot about truth,” she said. “About rebuilding. And about not letting the past define you.”

Paige heard the echo of her own words in Darcy’s tone. She had said those things.

Then Darcy said, softly, “But you don’t talk about what happened before the divorce. What caused it.”

Paige’s vision narrowed, just slightly, as if the room had shifted. She didn’t falter, but something inside her went cold.

“Because that’s private,” Paige said. Her voice sounded even and unbothered. She hoped it sounded that way to Darcy, too.

Darcy’s smile widened, pleased. “Exactly.”

Paige lifted her chin. She was done with this conversation. She didn’t owe this woman anything. She didn’t owe anyone the details of the pain she’d been through. She had shared what she chose to share. She had rebuilt her life on her own terms and it was going to stay that way.

It was time to cool down and get off the treadmill.

But as she reached for the treadmill’s controls, Darcy leaned in again. “Private is another word for hidden.”

Paige’s jaw clenched. Now she was mad. And done being polite. “Watch yourself.”

Darcy’s eyes glittered. “Or what?”

Paige kept walking as she turned her head fully now, gaze steady and direct. “Or you’ll find out that I’m not the kind of woman you can corner.”

For the first time, Darcy’s smile flickered. Not because of fear, exactly. More like recognition. As if she suddenly understood that there was a spine beneath Paige’s polish. Then the smile snapped back into place, brighter than before. “Good,” Darcy said. “People who give up too easily are no fun at all.”

Paige stared at her, unblinking. What on earth was Darcy up to? Who did this woman think she was?

Darcy’s treadmill beeped as she slowed it down. She stepped off with effortless grace, not even winded, and reached for her water bottle. Before she walked away, Darcy hesitated. “You should be careful,” she murmured. “The people here might be protective but that doesn’t mean you’re the one they want to protect.”