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“Theyarepretty bad.” I absentmindedly played with my napkin. “I’m not sure how this is really helping Gene.”
“Me either, but he’s convinced Olivia Jensen’s going to save the day.” The couple at the table next to ours started whispering, and Daphne rolled her eyes. “Want to get out of here? The tourists are flagrantly staring.”
“Sure.”
She left cash on the table, and we headed outside. As soon as we hit the sidewalk, both of our phones beeped.
It was a text message from Olivia Jensen herself.WTF, ladies? Did you ask if you could go off-island at the crack of dawn? The paps are all over your asses.She sent a picture of Daphne and me on the boat, smiling and talking.
Bryce is pissed,she wrote.What were you two thinking?
“Honestly?” Daphne squinted at her phone. “Who died and left Olivia Jensen in charge?” She rapid-fired off a reply text.We’re shopping for wedding guest dresses!She added a smiley face, even though her real-life expression was sour.
Sounds like a good photo opp. I’ll meet you with a photographer in 30 minutes, Olivia replied. Send me a link to the shop—security needs to clear it.
“Jeez Louise.” Daphne snorted. “She’s really sort of a buzzkill, isn’t she? I need to call my friend who owns the boutique—she’ll open early for us, I know she wouldn’t mind. That way, we can get out of here quickly. Did you notice how everybody’s staring?”
She glanced over her shoulder at the tourists on the sidewalk. Some of them were, in fact, peering curiously in our direction. One guy was taking a picture of us on his cellphone. “Hey, cut that out!” Daphne snapped at him. She dragged me around the corner to a quiet residential street. “We don’t need Average Joe taking pictures of us with his crappy cellphone. He might get a bad angle! Ugh, let me call my friend and see if she’s in yet.”
As she got on her phone, I got on mine. It wasn’t safe to talk, so I texted Akira.Made another deal with my stepmother,I wrote.And by ‘deal’ I mean I gave them way more money than they deserve.
Akira texted back immediately.You can’t keep giving in to their demands—they won’t stop! It’s extortion.
Can you please disburse the money from my account? 1M,I wrote.
Chloe! That’s crazy,she texted back.
I sighed, then kept typing.I didn’t have a choice. I need another agreement drafted. They can’t ever come after Noah and try to get him back. Can you please help me? Can you put something in there that they can’t come back looking for more?
I’ll do it,she wrote,but nothing can stop them from being greedy. You’re burning through your money and you haven’t even completed the assignment yet. Does Bryce know about this?
No,I replied,and I’d like to keep it between us.
Three dots appeared. Then, finally:I’ll reach out to Lydia. I don’t like this, though.
I didn’t like it either. Still, paying them off—again—would hopefully make them go away once and for all. I didn’t know what else to do.
“Let’s go to the shop,” Daphne said. “She’s already there unpacking some big order. As soon as I mentioned the photos, she said we could come right over.” She hustled me back around the corner to an upscale-looking boutique namedAqua. Her friend unlocked the door and ushered us inside.
“Hey Daphne!” She was an attractive older woman with white hair in a pixie cut, hot-pink lipstick, and an expensive-looking, wrinkly-on-purpose linen outfit. “And you must be Chloe.”
She air-kissed us both, then inspected me. “You’re much prettier in person,” she said.
“T-Thanks.”
“I’ll just be out back unpacking,” the owner called, hustling to the rear of the store. “There’s atonof new dresses on the floor—feel free to try things on. I just know you’ll find the perfect thing for Caroline’s wedding. Let me know when the photographers get here!”
“Thanks!” Daphne headed straight for the racks, motioning for me to join her. “I heard the bridesmaid’s dresses are blue. Anything else is fair game!” Expert shopper that she was, she dove right in.
I didn’t really have the stomach for gown shopping at the moment. It seemed silly after my run-in with Dad and Lydia. Ididneed to find a dress for the wedding—with everything going on, I’d forgotten all about it. Midge probably had something picked out, but since I was here, I might as well look. It was a way to pass the time.
I started looking at the dresses—the first one I picked up had a price tag ofthree thousand dollars. The next one was five thousand. I grabbed them both, along with one that cost seven. I wasn’t even sure if I liked them! But I listlessly put them into a dressing room, then hunted through the racks for more.
Still, I couldn’t get excited. I felt drained, frazzled. My thoughts zigzagged from the party last night, to Felicia, to how cold Bryce had been, to Lydia and my father. To the fact that I had just agreed to pay them amillion dollars—anothermillion dollars—because they were basically blackmailing me. There was also the fact that people had seen my pictures on the internet, and apparently, I looked much better in person.
It had been, absolutely, a crappy twenty-four hours.
More than anything, I missed Bryce. I’d felt so distant from him last night and this morning, but as I stood in the quiet boutique, dispiritedly looking for more things to try on, the pang hit me hard.I miss him.When things were right between us, I felt like I could handle anything. But now I was adrift, alone, and my circumstances felt insurmountable.
