She has no idea what has been going on over the past few days or the firestorm I’ve brought with me today.
She pulls back and scans me, her face twisting with irritation. “What are you wearing?”
I roll my eyes. I step toward the table, sidestepping her. I’m done with this act.
“Enough, Jackie. Sit down,” I say.
Leo lets out a laugh that he hides behind a cough beside me. I look down my nose at the woman I trusted with everything, only to find out later that my trust was wholly misguided.
Leo pulls out a chair for me before sitting beside me. Jefferson and Jackie sit across from us. It’s almost like a divorce mediation in some comedy. Honestly, it’s probably the most accurate description of what is about to happen.
"Willa—" Jackie begins gently, concern etched in her voice, but I reach into my bag, pull out a folder, and place it on the table. I fold my hands over it, fixing her with a blank stare that halts her words.
"What was the plan?" I ask after a moment. "For the next press cycle. Because it's become very clear to me that you had a plan, and I was not aware of it."
"The...plan?" Jackie asks, and for a split second, I see it there—a flash of nervous energy. Panic.
Good.
She has a reason to be worried. Given what I’ve learned in the past two days, she haseveryreason to be anxious.
“The, um, plan? The plan is,” she moves to the notebook before her, flipping pages and stuttering a bit. “To date Chris from August 20 through February, in preparation for your album release that we will be announcing in January.”Wewould be doing no such thing. “I don’t understand what is going on, I–”
“Chris seemed pretty sure I was going to marry him.”
Jackie’s eyes dart away, shifting to Jefferson. He nods, as if giving her permission to speak.
"I did become aware of that intention of his. I'm not sure where he got that idea," Jefferson says, voice fake and almost fatherly. “I am very apologetic over this miscommunication, and I want it to be clear that we had no idea that was something Chris was contemplating.”
“Jackie did. She suggested it,” I say bluntly, turning to my manager. "Multiple times. Each time, I argued it would not happen."
Leo’s hand reaches under the table to rest on my knee. This weekend, I finally filled him in on everything I had been holding back since we separated. He understood why I kept quiet, but he made me promise never to do it again, a promise I quickly and willingly made. While I don’t think things would have beenany different if I had told him earlier, it would have been less stressful. I wouldn’t have felt like I was gaslighting myself into believing things were normal when they clearly weren’t.
"It was just a suggestion, of course," Jackie says, waving her hand.
I tip my head and narrow my eyes because we both know that’s a lie. I let it go.
"Imagine my surprise when he entered my room Saturday," I say. "He told me that if I didn’t accept his proposal that evening, he would release private and sensitive photographs to the press." The room goes quiet. "Where could he have possibly gotten those photos from?"
My eyes lock on Jackie.
“I don’t—” she starts, and anger swirls in me at her immediate denial.
“Where did he get the photos from, Jackie?”
“If I can interrupt,” Jefferson says, looking at me with pity. “I spoke with Chris, and he informed me that he was given those photographs directly from Leo.” His eyes shift, and he gives Leo a smug smile, “I already have paperwork written up to fire him once this meeting is over, but I wish for you to know that Perfect Image takes blackmail extremely seriously, and we will ensure that the publicist who takes over your account when he is gone will be one you can trust. In fact, Jackie and I agreed that I am the most qualified to personally take over the Willa Stone brand.”
I turn to Jefferson blankly.
“I’d rather choke, but thanks,” I say with a tight smile. Leo does, in fact, choke out a laugh. This time, he doesn’t bother to hide it. “But I do find that information interesting—and directly contradictory to what I learned. Since my privacy was so deeply violated, I had Jaime Wilde of Wilde Security recommend a team. They conducted a full inspection of all my tech andchecked for weaknesses and breaches. That team included a digital specialist who audited my phone and my digital cloud’s history. They found that an IP address accessed and downloaded files from my cloud on Wednesday. He used some questionable methods to trace the IP address to its source. To your credit, Jackie, you did try to hide it.”
I open the folder, pull out a paper with the report findings, and slide it across the table, Jackie’s address highlighted in bright yellow. Her face goes pale. My stomach churns, though I hide it behind sass and attitude. I shift towards Jefferson and give him a copy of the same paper with a sickly-sweet smile.
“Unfortunately, these findings aren’t valid in court, due to their unconventional method of retrieval. Still, the team is confident that, with a warrant, they could do it by the book. Either way, it’s clear Jackie downloaded the photos via my cloud using her access to my calendar and email, then handed them to Chris. That connection was easier to make because the unsaved number Chris sent messages from matched Jackie’s assistant’s area code and the first three digits of her cell number. I could only memorize the first six in those moments. While I can’t say for certain without further investigation, I’m confident my assumption is correct.”
At the look on Jackie’s face, I don’t think I need that full investigation. Her perfectly made-up face is losing all color, her lips parted, eyes wide with shock. It’s clear that she underestimated me and never thought in a million years she would be here, caught red-handed.
I maintain my facade, using that long-established shield of mine, this one more vicious and cutthroat than my normal sweet Willa Stone one. "Now, I’m sure you know what decision these findings led me to." I pull out a thick packet of paper, filled with legal jargon, and slide it to Jackie. "This is for the full, amicable termination of our relationship, effective immediately." Jackiepulls them closer with a shaky hand, eyes flitting over the page before pushing it away. Her own mask comes back, a cocky look taking over as she crossed her arms on her chest.
