“I felt bad,” I said. “I thought if I’d just put it away properly, maybe she wouldn’t have been tempted. But I never thought she blamed me. She’s the one who stole it.”
“No school would admit her after that,” Ethan said. “She moved to Los Angeles, reinvented herself as Kenzie Jayne, and worked her way up in reality TV production.”
Vance leaned forward. “But how did she manipulate the network to hire Lila?”
Ethan passed us another document. “This is the pitch she used to convince them you were the perfect host. It says right in there about how you’re an unknown, but perfect for the concept. She did a great job putting together a comprehensive argument. And it must have worked, because you got the call.”
“I was really surprised they were interested,” I said.
“In my opinion, this was all part of a master plan,” Ethan said. “To create a scenario where she could publicly destroy you.”
“Just to sabotage me?” I asked.
“To ruin you,” Ethan said. “This isn’t about ratings. It’s personal revenge. I’m assuming she thinks destroying you will restore what she lost.”
“She’s insane,” I said.
“And dangerous,” Ethan said. “In my experience, people like her don’t stop. But now that we know who she is, we have leverage. We can go to the network and show them they hired a producer with a fraudulent identity and a personal vendetta.”
“Will they fire her?”
“Maybe. If not immediately, they’ll be on notice. And if she makes one more wrong move, we’ll have grounds to bury her legally.”
“What about getting me out of the contract?” I asked.
“That’s trickier. The blackmail and sabotage help, but we need more concrete proof. Right now, it’s your word against theirs about what happened with the cabinets and the threats.”
My heart sank. “So I’m still stuck.”
“For now. But I’m working on it. In the meantime, you have to go back to set. Act normal. Don’t let them know we’re onto them.”
“I have to keep working with her? Knowing what she’s done?”
“Just for a little while,” Ethan said. “Until we build an airtight case. Can you do that?”
I looked at Vance. He squeezed my hand.
“I can do it,” I said.
“Good. Keep your head down. Document everything. And if anything else happens, anything at all, call me immediately.”
We stood to leave.
“One more thing,” Ethan said. “Be careful. Anne Gilmore’s not going to give up easily.”
Back in the car, Vance turned to me. “I can’t believe this. We were right. We knew something felt off.”
“Yes. But I’d never have thought of this. I mean, who does this?”
“Someone unhinged.”
“I have to go back to set and pretend everything’s normal. Smile at the woman who’s been systematically destroying my life.” What would cause a woman to spend so much time and energy on destroying me? She clearly thought I’d ruined her life. Perhaps, all these years she’d been waiting for an opportunity to destroy my business. How long had she been watching me? Had she known all along where I was living? About my business here in Willet Cove?
“You don’t have to go,” Vance said.
“Yes, I do. If I don’t show up, they’ll say I’m in breach. And Ethan needs time to build the case.” I took a breath. “I can handle a few more days.”
“I don’t like it.”
