#Chapter 04 She's a call girl

 

“Stop right there! Unless you want a million people online to watch you committing assault. In which case, thank you for providing all the evidence in person!”

Peter’s fist immediately retracted. I had never been so relieved to hear that clear, bright voice.

“Hi, Lily,” I said softly.

Everyone turned to the door to see Lily standing there, her phone’s camera pointed at Peter. To me, she looked like a superhero straight from the gym with her designer sweats, sports bra, light jacket, and high ponytail. She even had her free hand placed on her hip.

Lily made her way through the room, phone still held up, until she stepped between Peter and me. The expression she gave him dared the man to mess with her and find out what would happen.

“I’m live right now, so everyone better keep that in mind,” she warned. She leaned into me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, luckily, he didn’t get any hits in. He just touched my butt.”

“Excuse me?” Lily shrieked. “And no one did anything about it?”

“I slapped him.”

“Good for you, but I mean anyone else.”

“No.”

“That is the last straw. I’ve had it with these people.”

Lily gave me a look. I knew that look. Lily was about to do something.

Oh no, I thought, she’s really going to do it. We talked about it last night, but I told her I didn’t want to embarrass them—

“So, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, Bob,” Lily sneered as she pointed the phone at them, “I bet you think that you know everything about Bob’s new squeeze over there, don’t you?”

Lily panned her phone to Marsha, who suddenly tried to hide herself from view near the closet. Almost like the old Marsha from the flower shop.

Too late for that now, I thought, though I wasn’t sure if I really felt any remorse over it.

“Everything?” Mr. Hayes said. “We just met the young lass. I doubt that we know everything—"

“Well,” Lily interrupted as though Mr. Hayes had not even spoken, “it turns out that Ms. Florist over there isn’t just a florist.” She paused for effect. “She’s an escort!”

Lily panned back to Bob and his parents to get their reactions. Mrs. Hayes appeared ready to pass out on the floor, and Mr. Hayes was doing all he could to steady her. The color drained from Bob’s face, and he seemed as likely to faint as his mother.

I stole a glance over at Peter. He seemed to be taking in Marsha with a new appreciation, one that he had reserved for me before. Now, I was starting to feel a little remorse and some pity for the homewrecker—a little.

“Yes, a bought-and-paid-for escort!” Lily exclaimed. She might have been having a bit too much fun with this. “What do you all have to say to that?”

Silence.

“Speechless now, are we? Maybe you don’t believe me? Because I can tell you the name and number of the service—”

“No!” Mrs. Hayes, who had recovered her wits, exclaimed. “No. I just can’t believe that my son would do something like this to poor, poor Anna.”

“Yes, it’s a downright shame,” Mr. Hayes added. “My only hope is that she will be able to heal from all this and have the happy life that she deserves.”

Bile rose in my throat. Who were these people, and what had they done with my in-laws? Then I realized why they were suddenly behaving themselves: the camera.

Of course. Lily was an internet superstar; they couldn’t afford to make themselves look like even bigger jackasses on her Tik Tok. People would see right through their act, though.

I really hoped people would see through it. I didn’t know how much more of this sugar-coated crud my stomach could handle.

“I know that what I did was horrible, and I just hope that you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me someday,” Bob managed to say as he finally recovered from his realization about Marsha.

God, that was the worst one yet, I thought, trying not to barf. I wanted nothing more than to get away from these phonies and hypocrites.

“Do you at least have somewhere to stay?” Bob continued.

I rolled my eyes. Enough was enough.

“You don’t care, and I don’t care if you do,” I said as I reached for my bags.

“But I do care—”

“No, you don’t,” Lily said for me. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have cheated on her in the first place.”

“Well, she—"

“Don’t even start. I’ve got evidence that you cheated. And by the way, you might want to get your sperm quality tested and see whether you’re fertile.”

Bob’s face turned the color of pig liver. “W-what do you mean?”

I glared at Marsha and sneered, “You know exactly what I mean.”

Marsha’s eyes went wide. She fidgeted with the large diamond ring on her hand, twirling round and round on her finger.

 

•* *

 

I thought I would be sad to leave the only home I had known for the past eight years. Instead, I was relieved. Yes, it was tinged with sadness and anxiety, but at least I didn’t have to worry about the Hayes family anymore that night—maybe ever.

I took one last look at my former house. An enormous, Southern Antebellum-style mansion, it was never my style anyway. It was too big for one person to take care of all on their own, and it had been nothing but a source of stress to me for several years.

At least I could put all of that behind me now. The best that I could afford on my own was a one-bedroom apartment, and that would suit me just fine. It would only be me by myself, after all.

A lonely but quiet existence as the stomach cancer ravaged my body.

“Come on, slowpoke!” Lily called to me.

I turned away from the house for the last time.

I had sent my Uber driver away as soon as I entered the house, knowing that Lily would show up any minute. The only vehicle I expected to see in the drive was Lily’s Lamborghini. Behind it, though, sat a slick, beautiful, black Rolls Royce.

In the driver’s seat of the Rolls Royce was an equally beautiful man wearing sunglasses. Something about him felt familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then I saw them: cufflinks with a lion’s head for a logo.

The same cufflinks as the ones on the suit of the man I had met a week ago at the dinner party. I’d know them anywhere, after being in such close proximity to them. The mane looked just like a fire’s flame.

Oh God, I internally groaned.

“Lily,” I said almost too quietly for Lily to hear, “whose car is that?”

Lily smiled broadly. She grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me down to the Rolls Royce, forcing me to abandon my bags on the walkway.

“Barnett, this is my best friend, Anna,” Lily said to the man inside the Rolls Royce. She faced me. “Anna, you remember my uncle, Barnett.”