Chapter 21
ELIZABETH
I had been in some brutal meetings before, but this one? This one felt like a firing squad.
“This is bad,” Sophie’s agent, Cynthia, said dramatically, waving a printed article like it was a court summons. “The studio is freaking out. They’re talking about reevaluating the role.”
Sophie gasped. “What?!”
Mick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose like he was physically in pain just saying the words. “And Logan, the label is… not thrilled.”
We were in a hotel conference room. Sophie and her agent had flown in for the meeting, and so had my boss, Vanessa. That’s how seriously she was taking this. And every time she spoke, she commanded attention: “This isn’t just ‘not thrilled,’ Logan. They’re reconsidering your album.”
My stomach turned not just because I needed Logan’s career intact, not just because my job depended on it, but because I had done this.
I had let things go too far.
I exhaled sharply, choosing my words carefully. “The photos were a misunderstanding.”
A beat of silence.
Logan’s jaw tensed, his knuckles whitening against the table.
I turned to him, ducked my head so only he could see my lips as I drew a shaky breath. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then what did you mean?” Logan asked, voice quiet.
I wanted to take the words back, but it was impossible. What was I supposed to say? I couldn’t admit to this room of people how I felt about Logan.
Vanessa scoffed. “A misunderstanding? Oh, how wonderful! Let’s call the press and explain that you two just tripped into each other’s arms. I’m sure they’ll immediately retract everything.”
My stomach twisted. But before I could answer, Mick clapped his hands together, his tone all business. “Alright, enough. Damage control time. What’s our best move?”
Sophie, still in a state of crisis, sat up suddenly. “Maybe… maybe Logan and I should post a photo together. You know, all happy and couple-y?”
Vanessa scoffed. “Oh, yes, a photo. That’ll convince people that Logan isn’t secretly in love with his publicist.”
My face heated. “He’s not in—”
“We need something bigger,” Mick said, cutting through the chaos.
Cynthia nodded. “Something… unshakable.”
There was a beat of silence before Sophie’s stylist, a man who was clearly in it for a free trip to New Orleans and had been scrolling on his phone for most of the meeting, suddenly said, “They should get married.”
The room exploded.
Sophie made an inhuman squeaking noise. Mick let out a strangled laugh. Vanessa inhaled sharply, already calculating the logistics.
My brain short-circuited.
Logan blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”
Vanessa snapped her fingers. “It’s genius.”
“No, it’s not,” Logan said. “It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot of dumb things.”
Vanessa leaned forward, her eyes sharp. “You two getting married erases everything. If you’re engaged, it looks like you and Sophie were together the whole time. It would prove that the photos with Elizabeth meant nothing.”
Nothing? I stiffened, clenching my fists under the table. The late-night phone calls and shared secrets. The new happiness blooming in my chest. Logan’s special smile when he saw me, and how my knees melted when I saw him. All of it… nothing?
Sophie’s eyes darted between us. “I mean… that’s a solution. But do we need to get married? Do we need to go that far?”
“Yes,” Vanessa, Mick, and Cynthia said in unison.
Logan exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over his face. “ I-I don’t know, this feels a little insane.”
Before I could even think, the words were out of my mouth. “What about just an engagement?”
The room quieted.
I shifted my weight. “We don’t have to go all the way to marriage. An engagement is still enough to sell the story, and we wouldn’t have to worry about, you know…” I gestured vaguely. “The actual lifelong commitment part.”
Sophie brightened. “Oh, that’s a good idea!”
But Cynthia shook her head. “No, no, no, this is too far gone. We need something stronger. Marriage.”
“Elizabeth,” Vanessa’s voice cut through the noise, smooth as ever, but with an edge that made my spine go rigid.
The room went quiet.
I forced my voice to sound neutral. “Yes?”
She tilted her head, studying me as if I were an intern who’d just made a fatal mistake. “Step outside for a second, would you?”
The request was casual. Too casual.
Mick groaned. “Oh, for—Vanessa, just say it. Whatever it is, it can be said here.”
Vanessa smiled, slowly and deliberately. “Mick, I want this to be private.”
My stomach twisted.
Mick waved a dismissive hand. “Fine. But make it quick.”
I pushed back my chair and stood, following Vanessa toward the door as casually as I could. The second I stepped into the hallway, Vanessa’s voice snapped me to attention.
I clenched my jaw. “What do you want?”
Vanessa sighed dramatically, her hands on her hips. “Why do you always assume I’m about to ruin your life? I don’t want to threaten you, Elizabeth.”
I crossed my arms. “Yet here we are.”
She smiled, flashing perfectly white teeth, like a shark that had just spotted blood.
“Well, since you mention it…” She leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice just enough to send a chill down my spine. “Jake’s been accepted into that clinical trial. Fantastic news.”
My stomach clenched. “I know.”
“But,” she drawled, idly checking her nails, “his participation isn’t quite locked down yet.” She glanced up, her smile just a little too sharp. “You wouldn’t want anything to… shift, would you?”
The words landed like a blow. Vanessa had put me in touch with the doctor at Beth Israel in New York City, who was working with the doctor at Tulane who had gotten Jake into the study. The study. The one that could change everything for him.
My pulse hammered. “You can’t—”
“Oh, don’t be dramatic.” Vanessa gave an exaggerated sigh. “No one’s pulling him out yet. I’m just saying that sometimes… things change.”
My throat felt tight.
Vanessa levelled her eyes at me. “You’re a smart girl, Elizabeth. You know how this business works.”
I wanted to scream, to call her bluff, but I couldn’t because we both knew this wasn’t a bluff. This was Vanessa reminding me that she held all the cards.
I could fight her. But Jake? Jake didn’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire.
Vanessa sighed again, perfectly content, like she’d already won. “Alright, darling. Let’s get that engagement rolling, shall we?”
I forced myself to take a steadying breath. Shoved every ounce of anger, every flicker of fear, deep down where no one could see it.
Then we walked back inside.
Logan was watching and waiting for me. I had never wanted to tell him the truth more.
But instead, I forced the words out, knowing they would seal my fate. “This is the best move.” The words tasted like poison. “We should make the proposal big and emotional. Everything about it needs to be believable. We’ll coordinate with the press. Make sure it’s perfect.”
Logan turned to me, looking almost nervous.
“Please,” I said softly. And that was all it took.
Logan exhaled, then nodded. “Fine.”
Sophie, ever the actress, clapped her hands together. “I guess we’re doing this. We’re getting married!”
My stomach twisted again.
Vanessa cleared her throat. “Now that that’s settled, we need a public moment to announce it.”
Mick hummed. “A grand proposal. Somewhere famous, somewhere public.”
Sophie gasped. “What about Cafe du Monde? Oh! We could do the whole ring in the dessert thing and put it in a beignet!”
My brain still felt foggy, but I forced myself to focus. “And Logan should write a song for Sophie and sing it at the restaurant.”
The room went silent.
Slowly, Logan met my eyes. “I should what?”
“You should write Sophie a love song and perform it when you propose,” I said, grasping for anything that would make this look authentic.
“It’ll be romantic!” Sophie chimed in. “Oh! What if you write something like your song ‘Wildfire Love’?”
Logan groaned. “I regret that song every single day of my life.”
Vanessa clapped her hands. “It’s a good idea.”
“I will not do it,” Logan said.
I nodded. “Fine. If not a song, then we make the proposal big and emotional. Everything about it needs to be believable. We’ll coordinate with the press. Make sure it’s perfect.”
Perfect. The word sounded hollow. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Great,” Vanessa said, smoothing out her suit. “Then we’re settled. Get it done.”
I nodded. Because what else could I do?
I had spent weeks repairing Logan’s reputation, controlling the narrative, and ensuring the world saw what they needed to see. I had done my job.
And in doing so, I had backed myself into a corner.
Because now, the only way to keep my job and secure everything I had fought for was to help Logan marry someone else.
I clenched my hands into fists. This was wrong. All of it.
But there was no way out.