Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
GRIFFIN
“I’m done chopping the red peppers.” I held out a hand. “Give me the onion.”
Mom brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and offered me a sad smile.
Correction. A pity smile. She hadn’t stopped looking at me like that since the night we got home from Liam’s game.
I knew what she was thinking—that I must be desperate for something to do if I was volunteering to help make dinner. She wasn’t wrong.
We were two and a half weeks from Jules’s due date and still, no word.
I was about to slice into the devil’s vegetable when Sophie called from the couch in the great room, “Uh, Griff?” Her focus was gripped by something on her phone. “You’re gonna want to see this.”
“Is it Jules?” I shouldn’t have dared to hope.
But when she said, “Yes,” I dropped my knife and jogged over. Mom was right behind me.
I sat next to Sophie with Mom on my other side. Sophie had paused the reel, giving me a second to get my bearings.
It was Jules.
She wore her red hair pulled into a ponytail, light makeup, and a basic green T-shirt.
Her simple beauty stole my breath.
“Oh, my gosh.” Mom pressed a hand to her mouth. “Look how filled out her face is.”
I nodded. “And she’s only showing herself from the shoulders up.” It was just another confirmation that she was pregnant.
“Looks like she posted this less than five minutes ago,” Sophie said. “Are we ready?”
“Yes,” Mom and I answered at the same time.
Sophie tapped the play button.
“Hi, everyone.” Jules’s voice. Man, I’d missed hearing it. “My name is Juliette Serrant. You probably recognize me as the former face of the brand for DayGlow Cosmetics.” She was somber, no smile, eyes intensely serious. “If you’re watching this, I need you to listen very carefully.”
My stomach coiled with tension. “She’s going to out DayGlow.” I could feel it.
“It’s the second Sunday of the month, which means there’s going to be a Viewing at the Solstice Grand Casino at 8 pm sharp.
Against her will, a woman will be sold to the highest bidder.
” Her eyes narrowed. “Or in plainer terms, she will be sex trafficked.” She took a deep breath.
“I know because that woman used to be me.”
I tapped pause. “Sorry,” I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I need… a sec.”
Sophie handed me the phone so Mom could see too, then squeezed my other hand. “Whenever you’re ready, Finn.”
I took a couple of deep breaths. Then a couple more. But my nerves weren’t going to relax, and it was time to man up. Juliette had already lived this horror. The least I could do was hear her story.
I started the reel.
“Sixty-nine times they auctioned me off to the vilest, most disgusting of men. Starting the weekend after I’d signed my contract as face of the brand until last October… when I finally escaped. That’s why you haven’t seen me since then. I’ve been in hiding. But I can’t hide anymore.”
Sophie paused the reel. “You saved her. You realize that, don’t you?”
“What? No. I didn’t do anything. She did it herself.”
“Yes and no,” Mom said quietly. “She made the decision to leave, but your love gave her a reason to be brave enough to do it.”
I thought about that for a second. Like, really thought.
It felt true. Every day since she disappeared, I’d yearned to see her again.
At first, so I could cuss her out. But after Laney had shown up and told me the real truth, that yearning had intensified, making it hard to even breathe without Jules.
I kept asking myself why? What had been the point of it all? Now I knew.
Her freedom was the point.
I might never get to hug Jules again, be her husband, or raise my son.
If that were true, I didn’t know how I’d go on, but I’d figure out a way.
My entire life, I’d wanted to do something truly heroic.
That’s why I’d been obsessed with becoming a firefighter.
But this? Giving her the strength to break free from the literal slavery that chained her?
Was worth all the loneliness I’d felt since she left, and it would be worth whatever pain I had yet to face.
I let the reel roll.
“To the wives, fiancees, and girlfriends who are about to have their hearts broken, I apologize. These men will tell you it’s not true.
DayGlow will tell you it’s not true. But it is.
You see, I have a photographic memory, and I remember it all.
I remember their names, the dates it happened, and how much I was sold for. I remember everything.”
My fists curled. I wanted to destroy every single one of those men.
“The first time I was sold for $654,220.” Jules’s eyes burned into the camera. “To Montgomery ‘Monty’ Vance. Founder of Vance Private Equity. The date was June 17th, three days after my 18th birthday. What a way for a girl to lose her virginity. Happy birthday to me.”
It felt like one of my lungs had collapsed.
Mom’s shoulders shook next to me.
Sophie seethed. “I wish I could punch that man in the face.”
“Nah,” I said. “He deserves way worse than that. DayGlow too.”
“The next month,” Jules said. “I was sold to everybody’s favorite tech billionaire, Elliot Urie, for a meager $473,600.” She paused. “Let’s see what that does to your stock, Elliot.”
I whistled. “Theo’s going to lose his mind.” He quoted Elliot Urie daily—as if he were a prophet.
Jules continued, “The third time, I was purchased by Quentin Pike, linebacker for the Carolina Fury—one of the most disgusting men on the planet—for $377,000, even. Big man on the field. Bargain hunter everywhere else. Quentin? I hope your agent’s having a great night.
” She winked at the camera. “And I hope it was worth your career.”
I swore, and for once, Mom didn’t scold me.
Sophie didn’t look up from the screen. “Good. He deserves it.”
Jules read five more names and dates, listing the prices they’d paid for her. “You get the picture. I’ve got them all right here.” She held up a notebook and shook it. Then she tapped her temple. “And here. And now the FBI and the Las Vegas Police Department have them as well.”
“Yes!” Sophie shouted.
I tried to chuckle, but my chest was too tight. I was seriously worried for Jules’s safety.
“And DayGlow?” Jules leaned closer to the camera.
“You may have built your brand on my silence, but I can’t wait to see how it holds up to the truth.
To all the women who’ve supported DayGlow because you trusted me—I beg you not to support them anymore.
You might not see me after this.” I sucked in a breath, wondering what that meant.
“And you might feel like you have to continue using their products because you’ve fallen in love with them.
But I wouldn’t leave you hanging like that.
” She smiled the first and only genuine smile of the night.
“I’d like to point you to a new emerging brand that will be out in a few weeks,” she said, like that’s an order.
“That was meant for Peyton.” Mom’s voice was barely there.
“It’s called DoubleTake Beauty,” Jules said.
“And the face of it is Peyton Dupree—everyone’s favorite female spy protagonist—who’s stunning, talented, and, thankfully, exactly who she appears to be.
But more importantly, her products are better.
Truly. Every foundation, blush, eyeshadow, and skincare serum outperforms anything DayGlow has ever made.
So if you’ve ever trusted me before, trust me one last time.
You want whatever she sells. And Peyt?” She blew a kiss at the camera.
“Live your dreams.” She sat up straight.
“Well, that’s it from me, your girl Juliette. Over and out.”
The reel began replaying.
The three of us sat there, no words. Until our phones started sounding off with alerts from the Dupree family group text thread.
Funcle Ford:
I’m sure you’ve all seen Juliette’s reel. DoubleTake Beauty is back in business. We need all hands on deck!
By the eleven o’clock news, Cecil and the entire DayGlow board were in handcuffs on every channel.
All because of Jules.
I cried myself to sleep—weighed down by what she’d gone through, wishing with everything I had that I could hold her.
For the next two weeks, I watched her reel every spare moment I got. Before I’d hit play again, I’d whisper, “I love you, Jules. I still want you. Please come home to me.”
But her due date quietly came and went without a word.