Page 116 of The Hollywood Switch-up

“Okay.” Lily’s voice was careful. “So Martin has the switch. He has the photos. And right now, the only thing stopping him from calling the studio is that you’re doing what he wants.”

“Yes.”

“And if you go to the studio yourself—get ahead of it⁠—”

“Anneliese loses her career. The production shuts down. Everyone on this crew loses their job because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”

“That’s not on you.”

“It is, though.” Erika said it without heat. Just the flat truth of it. “I’m the one who agreed to the switch. I’m the one who’s here in her name. And if it comes out, I’m the one who lied to a studio and a hundred crew members and the man who—” She stopped. “Martin knows that. He knows I can’t go to anyone without destroying Anneliese first.”

Lily leaned back in her chair. “Stefan.”

One word, and Erika felt her whole body go cold.

“No.”

“He’s been out of his mind trying to figure out what’s wrong with you. If he knew⁠—”

“If he knew, he’d walk into Martin’s office and tear him apart and call it justice.” Erika’s voice was steady and strange. “And Martin would love that, Lily. He’d reframe it—the volatile actor, the on-set incident, the production disrupted. Stefan would become the story instead of Martin. The switch would come out anyway. Anneliese would still lose everything. Stefan would lose everything too. Because that’s what Martin does. He makes the people who fight him into a problem.”

“You don’t know⁠—”

“I know exactly how it goes. I’ve been running it in my head every night.” She looked at Lily. “I get through the rest of the shoot, and then I go home. Anneliese comes back. Stefan gets his film. Nobody has to know.”

“And you?”

“I go back to the spare room and my sketchbooks and my life that nobody was paying attention to before any of this happened.” Her throat tightened. “That’s the plan.”

“That’s a terrible plan.”

“It’s the only one I’ve got.”

Lily looked at her for a long moment, and Lily’s eyes worked—not the fixer this time, not the woman who ran scenarios. Something quieter.

“You know what I think?” Lily’s voice was different now. Softer. Which was almost worse. “I think you’ve been so scared of what happens if someone helps you that you’ve convinced yourself the only option is to suffer through it alone. And I think that’s bullshit, chica. I think you’re the bravest person I know and also the most stubborn, and right now, those two things are working against each other.”

Erika didn’t answer.

“Stefan came to me.” Lily said it straight, the way she said everything. “He’s got a way to get you off this island for a day. Private, somewhere Martin can’t reach you.”

Erika shook her head before Lily finished. “If Martin finds out⁠—”

“Food poisoning. You’re back before anyone notices.” Lily’s hand found her shoulder. “You don’t have to tell Stefan the truth. But you need one day where you can breathe. One day.”

“I shouldn’t.”

“That’s not a no.”

Erika closed her eyes and thought about Stefan standing on the other side of her door that morning, his palm flat against the wood. She thought about how tired she was—not the tired that sleep fixed but the tired that lived in her bones and made everything heavier—and she didn’t know if getting away from this place was going to change anything, but she knew she couldn’t survive another week of this.

“Okay.” Her voice was barely there. “Okay. Yes.”

Lily exhaled, and something like relief moved across her face—brief, real, gone.

“Get some sleep. I’ll handle the rest.”

ERIKA