Chapter 18
Kjell
"Damn, how could this happen?" Jakob's voice on the other end of the line sounds so defeated that it makes me feel sick instantly.
"What?" I rub my arms dry with a towel.
"You didn't see it?"
I've never heard him like this before. Pure horror lingers in his words. "Tell me, what's going on?"
I stroll into the bathroom as Jakob explains the problem. When I arrive, a shocked face stares back at me from the mirror.
"What? This can't be serious," I stammer clumsily. How didAftonbladetiget these details? Finding out that Sky, alias Skady Blohm, is Gustav Blohm's daughter is one thing, if you know where to look. But everything else...
"Six years after a fierce family feud, the daughter of fashion mogul Gustav Blohm reappears in Stockholm," Jakob reads from the article. "Everything indicates that she's finally forgiven her parents for their divorce and is ready to join the family business."
Sky left because of the divorce? No. It had something to do with this show.Aftonbladetiis digging deep.
"Did she wait too long, perhaps? Rumors have it that her father is in a coma." Jakob sighs wearily. "We could have covered that too. Except for the divorce and the coma, we had the same information."
"But..." Yes, but what? I don't know. Sighing, I toss the wet towel onto the tiled floor.
"Do you have any idea how much moneyAftonbladetiis making from this article?" He sounds like he's fighting back tears. "Dammit, we really could have used that money!"
He's right, and that should be all I'm thinking about right now. Yet I can't push away these other questions that well up within me. Did Sky see the article? How is she dealing with it?
She's so afraid of revealing anything about herself; she practically hides. It must be terrible for her to read rumors about herself in Sweden's largest newspaper. With a circulation of over two hundred thousand copies, the article has already spread across the country.
"Besides, this is just the beginning," Jakob reminds me.
Yes, dammit, he's right. From now on, they'll be chasing Sky. Everyone will want the best story.
Fuck.
"Listen," I say quickly and rush to the bedroom to pull on a sweater. "Let me handle this."
"Pffft." Jakob sighs tiredly. "How do you plan to handle it? The damn article is already printed!"
I'm well aware of that. "I'm going to see Sky now."
"Bring me something we can publish inRyktesspegeln," he pleads. There's desperation in his tone. I can empathize with him because so much is at stake for him. For both of us.
But it's the same for Sky—something I shouldn't care about at all. Not in the slightest. Because even though I forget it far too often, nothing about her is real. She lies; that's the only thing I'm sure of about her.
"I'll see what I can do," I reply vaguely. I end the call before he can put more pressure on me, and I hastily leave the apartment.
The night lies dark over the city, with only the numerous lights illuminating the paths. I ponder intensely.
"Where are you, Sky?" I murmur into my scarf.
If Sky knew about the article, where would she flee to? Her father's house? Perhaps, as that would be a haven. But would she find solace there? She hasn't told me much about her childhood or her parents' home. All she ever wanted was to be atTouch av lyx. That was her true home.
She's on the rooftop!
I rush into the subway station, anxiously shifting from one foot to the other during the ride and swiftly maneuvering through the crowd after disembarking.
It takes twenty minutes, which feel like half a lifetime, for me to stand in front of the entrance to the modern skyscraper whereTouch av lyxhas its headquarters.
