Chapter Twenty-Two Crisis Mode
SUTTON
I’m so glad Mom only stayed a few days. I’ve been able to throw myself into my work since she left, drowning my anxiety in preparing my presentation for Mr. Romero and sketching out plans for the performance center.
I totally bury myself in it, staying up well past midnight most nights and sometimes forgetting to eat meals during the day.
I’d be a totally starving mess, honestly… if it weren’t for Jayce.
He’s looking out for me. Caring for me and being so attentive it catches me by surprise, but at the same time, he’s been notably distant.
Like, he’s doing everything right and treating me so well…
but he’s closed off. It’s almost as if he’s acting out of some kind of obligation, and I don’t always like how that feels.
It makes his thoughtful gestures feel a little hollow.
I keep these thoughts hidden, though, even when I’m with the girls. I don’t want them to worry about me or start asking questions I’m not sure I’m ready to answer.
It’s Saturday night, and I’m hanging with the girls at Stacey’s, doing my best to put on a carefree, happy face.
The guys are all at practice, and Millie is at a friend’s house.
We’re gathered in the living room, and Rylee is sitting cross-legged on the couch, holding the baby, while Stacey relaxes in an armchair.
I’m on the floor, resting my back against the couch, my head next to Rylee’s knee.
Skyler is laying on the floor across from me, her head propped up by a Princess Elsa beanbag chair, and Grace is on the other end of the couch from Rylee, scrolling on her phone, checking her clients’ socials.
Stacey’s phone is resting on the coffee table in the middle of all of us on speaker with Hadley on the other end of the line.
“Yeah, yeah,” Hadley responds to Stacey’s probing questions. “I know it’s been way too long. Trust me, Grandpa’s been on my case to come visit again.” She laughs. “I keep telling him I’d love to, but I can’t while studying abroad.”
“Well, we’d love to have you back,” Stacey tells her.
“Yeah, you need to come see Henry!” Rylee declares as she bounces him in her arms.
“I know!” Hadley gushes. “It would be so awesome to see you guys again. I’ll try and figure something out, I promise.”
“You better,” Skyler says with a grin. “We’ll go for a girls' dinner. Dirty martinis, fries, and caesar salad, then max out the guys’ credit cards with a shopping spree.”
We all laugh at that, the whole plan sounding especially ludicrous coming from Skyler who’s wearing a Mortal Kombat shirt with FINISH HIM scrawled across her chest in red, slashy letters.
“Deal,” Hadley chuckles. “I’m totally in. I should get going now, but I’ll let you all know when I can make the trip. Talk later!”
We all say goodbye and Stacey hangs up the phone.
“Man, I like her,” she grins.
“I do, too,” I nod.
Skyler and Rylee agree, but Grace doesn’t say anything. I glance up at her and she is scrolling furiously through her phone, her brow furrowed.
“Holy shit,” she gasps.
“What is it?” I ask, concerned.
She looks up at me, her blue eyes dark with worry.
“Um…there are pictures that have just been released,” she hesitantly replies. “Pictures of Jayce. They’re all over the internet.”
I blink, confused. Why would pictures of Jayce be such a big deal?
“What kind of pictures?” Rylee asks when I can’t seem to form words, my anxiety bubbling up and tying my tongue into a knot.
Grace swallows. “They’re shots of Jayce entering a private club by himself… a sex club.”
“What?” Skyler exclaims, sitting up.
“A sex club?” Stacey sounds both shocked and intrigued, but then looks at me and asks, “Did you know he went to sex clubs?”
My jaw drops. I shake my head. “No… no, I had no idea.”
Has he ever mentioned a club? I honestly can’t remember. Wouldn’t it have come up given everything we’ve done together?
Has he been going there instead of coming to me? That thought makes my stomach twist and provokes feelings I don’t want to dig into right now.
“Let me see,” I choke out.
Grace hands me the phone and I gaze down at the screen to see an image of Jayce entering some building with a dark sign over the door that reads Club élysée in silver letters.
I swipe through the pictures, all showing him going into the club and some seemingly later the same night of him coming out.
He doesn’t look any different—maybe his hair is a little mussed.
Still, it’s hard to argue the fact that he was in that club. When was this taken? Recently? Were we engaged when he went there?
My anxiety hits me so hard, I want to vomit. I have to set the phone down and clench my hands into fists to hide the fact that they’re shaking.
“This is bad, Sut,” Grace says in a sharp voice. “Really bad. People are commenting and questioning if the engagement is fake or if Jayce is cheating on you. This is on the verge of being a full-blown scandal.”
Fuck, how could he do this to me? Embarrass me like this. Betray me like this? Oh, God, if Mom and Dad see this, they’ll drag me back home and throw me right back to Leon…
No, stop! My thoughts are swirling out of control but I need to get a grip.
This is Jayce we’re talking about. He’s my friend.
We’re in this engagement scheme together, helping each other.
We’re not really together, and I have no right to feel like he’s cheated on me, no matter how much the thought stings.
I need to focus because this isn’t just about me right now.
This scandal could ruin Jayce’s image, which will ruin his chances of becoming CEO.
I doubt his family will give him the position if he’s perceived as irresponsible for smearing their name.
Everything he’s done to prove his worth and care for the company and its legacy will be for nothing.
Sucking in a breath, I gaze around at my friends. “Guys, I need you to help me. We need to counter this story and save Jayce’s image, and we need to do it right now.”
No one questions me or pushes back. Instead, they all jump into action in an instant.
“Let’s do this,” Grace says, pumping a fist into the air.
“If anyone can fix this shit, it’s us,” Rylee chimes in.
“I’ll track down the original source of the photos,” Skyler declares, reaching for her laptop bag next to her and pulling out her computer. “I can take down posts while I’m searching and slow down their spread a bit.”
Stacey hops up and takes Henry from Rylee so she and Grace can huddle together, both going into PR mode.
“Sutton, you will need to make a statement,” Rylee declares, typing quickly on her phone. “We’ll play the privacy angle.”
“Good idea. Say I was there too,” I insert. “I just arrived earlier or something.”
Rylee nods as she continues typing on her phone.
“We’ll blast the statement all over social media,” Grace adds, working on her own phone. “Push it to the media outlets sharing the photos to counter the current cheating narrative.”
Within minutes, Rylee has a statement drafted for me.
Stacey cleans me up, doing my makeup and hair so I look poised and camera ready.
Skyler stays hunched over her laptop, glasses perched on the end of her nose, her tongue between her teeth as she hacks her way closer and closer to the source of the photo leak.
“Let’s put you here,” Grace instructs, pointing to the fireplace. She carefully removes the pictures of Stacey, Owen, and the kids so it’s a more neutral background, with just a few knickknacks and a floral painting hanging on the wall.
“Perfect,” I nod, moving to stand at a slight angle in front of the mantle.
“Okay, you ready?” Grace asks, holding her phone up to shoot the video of me making my statement.
For a moment, I freeze as the reality of what I’m doing hits me. Millions of people will see this. All those eyes on me, watching me… judging me…
Anxiety bubbles up inside me and my heart starts to race as my thoughts spiral. I raise my hand and start nibbling at my nails before I realize I’ve even moved my arm.“Hey, Sutt?” Rylee’s voice breaks through the noise in my head. I look up to find her watching me with a small frown. “You okay?”
Blinking, I quickly pull myself together, reminding myself this is for Jayce. It’s just a video. I’m here with my friends, and they won’t let me fail.
I nod. “Yeah, I’m good. Let’s do this.”
Raising my chin, I wait for Grace to hit the record button on her phone and I read the statement off the pieces of paper Rylee’s written it on with black marker.
My voice is calm and I speak in a confident tone. “Hello, I’m Sutton Holloway. By now, I’m sure many of you have seen the photos of my fiance, Jayce Vaughn, entering a well-known adult club and have heard the narrative that he has been unfaithful to me. Let me…um… let me…”
My voice stops. Not now. My lungs are not letting out air. I close my eyes for a half-second that feels like an hour, take a deep breath, and then deflate the balloon of anxiety that’s trying to rise up the back of my throat. When I’m certain I have it under control, I continue. I can do this.
“Let me put the rumors to rest here and now.” My voice is steady again, thank god.
Grace gives me a thumbs-up. I keep going.
“Jayce is loyal, loving, and would never do anything to hurt me. I trust him absolutely, and what those pictures fail to show is that I was also at the club that night as well. I’d arrived before him.
We were together in the club, enjoying a night that was meant to be for me. ”
I pause, gazing straight into the camera. I have to sell this next bit, and hard.
“What my fiance and I do in our private lives is our business only,” I say.
“He respects my boundaries, body, and needs. This is an invasion of privacy and an intentional attempt to tarnish Jayce’s character in the public eye without actually giving all the facts.
” I feel a flare of anger at that, and my words grow more forceful.
“That is the violation here. The problem is not a man treating his partner with care. Consent isn’t a scandal.
Violation of privacy is. Jayce and I are happy, committed to each other, and looking forward to our future together.
Anyone suggesting otherwise simply has their facts wrong. Thank you.”
I speak with such conviction, for a moment, even I believe it.
Reality quickly settles back in, though, as Grace ends the video and my exhausting thoughts swarm me once more.
The anger and empowerment I was just feeling is dulled by sadness, knowing that it’s all a lie.
Jayce and I aren’t committed to each other.
We’re not looking forward to our future together.
I didn’t even know he was there until now.
It’s nothing but an arrangement.
“Sutton? Helloooo? Earth to Sutton!”
I blink, snapping back into reality when I hear Grace’s voice. She and Rylee are grinning at me, and Stacey and Skyler are pumping their fists in the air in excitement.
“Brilliant,” Grace says, watching the video through again. “You look like a fucking CEO boss-bitch, Sutt. This is perfect. I’m sending it out now.”
I lose track of time over the next hour. I retreat into a daze as the girls push the statement out into the world. I just stare at the wall, breathing heavily.
It’s not until Stacey gently shakes my shoulder that I realize I’ve been sitting on the couch, totally spaced out.
“Are you really okay?” she asks, her gaze shimmering with concern. “You’ve been totally zoned out.”
I quickly slap on a reassuring smile. “I’m fine, promise. Just a lot happening.”
“No kidding,” Rylee snorts. “Well, while you were halfway conscious, here’s what’s happening.
Grace has amplified the post through every social network she has at her disposal, and I’ve been on the phone with different media outlets, making sure the statement is broadcasted beyond social media.
My editor from ICON magazine even called. She wants an exclusive from Jayce.”
My brows shoot up in surprise. “Really?”
Grace laughs. “The guys haven’t even finished practice yet, and we’ve already flipped the whole script on this scandal. Jayce’s popularity online is soaring, and people are coming to his defense, demanding whoever leaked the photos be held accountable. Skyler’s still hunting them down.”
I’m so stunned, I can hardly murmur, “Holy shit.”
Suddenly, Skyler lets out a triumphant cackle.
“Gotcha, bitch!” she declares.
I scramble down to kneel next to her on the floor. “You found it? You found the leak?”
“Yep,” she nods. “Tracked down the IP of the computer they originated from and… oh, what the fuck. Seriously? Sorry, Sutton, it looks like you’ve got some serious fucking drama going down with your fiancé’s family—”
Heart racing, I interrupt her. “What? Why? What is it?”
She looks up at me with a furrowed brow. “The IP belongs to a guy named Ryan Vaughn.”