Chapter 40 #2
This all feels too easy. I still need to speak with my mom’s husband, but it’s obvious Hot Scoop is hanging by a thread. Something tells me it isn’t going to take much to stop them from terrorizing celebrities. Assuming, of course, the two writers ever shut up and let me speak.
“Derek Riley,” a man says behind me, his calm words barely audible over the shouting.
Donovan and I turn to find a white-haired man standing in the open doorway. The writers go quiet at the sight of him, but not for long.
“Mr. Shaw!” Toby croaks. “I thought you weren’t coming back to town until tomorrow.”
Shaw’s expression pinches as he looks past me to his employees. “Plans changed,” he says gruffly.
“Can I grab you a coffee, Mr. Shaw?” Gina asks, hurrying forward. She stumbles to a halt when Shaw glares at her.
“You,” he says, pointing at her. “Sit. You.” He points at Toby. “We’re having a talk later.”
Toby gulps and slowly sinks into his chair, ghostly pale. I would almost feel bad for the guy if he wasn’t one of the voices behind all the hate against my friends.
Shaw’s expression is inscrutable as he glances between Donovan and me as if sizing us both up. He takes a slow breath, then jerks his head for us to follow him to a door at the back of the office.
I hesitate for only a second before I squeeze Donovan’s hand and step into the small room which must be Shaw’s office. The door closes behind us, and almost instantly Gina and Toby jump right back into their argument. Thankfully, the door muffles most of the noise.
Shaw sighs as he takes his place at his desk with an expression that can only be described as resigned.
He doesn’t seem at all surprised to see me, which makes me wonder how long he’s been waiting for me to show up.
“Take a seat,” he says, gesturing to one of the chairs.
His eyes travel to Donovan, lighting up with interest that instantly puts me on edge again as he nods toward her. “Miss Tate.”
As she sits next to me, Donovan’s spine is straight, like she’s as ready to get out of here as I am and doesn’t see the point in getting comfortable.
Shaw sits just as stiffly, hands on the arms of his chair. Despite his white hair, he looks like he can’t be older than fifty, and unlike my mother with her anti-aging surgeries, everything about him seems to be natural. “Derek, I’m sure—”
“You run Hollywood Hot Scoop?” Donovan asks sharply.
Shaw blinks. “What?”
She shrugs. “I figured if we get the accusations out of the way, this’ll go faster. A yes or no works.”
“Yes?”
“Was that a question? No wonder it’s falling apart if you don’t even know your own company.”
“I know my company, Miss Tate.”
Donovan smirks like she’s caught him in some lie. “You just have no control over it.”
Sighing, he looks from her to me. A weariness settles in his shoulders and weighs them down as the stiffness from a moment ago makes way for exhaustion. “I have control,” he says to me specifically. “Or I thought I did.”
I frown. “What does that mean?”
He seems to debate his answer, studying my carefully neutral expression. “It means I turned a blind eye for too long.”
“You should start explaining yourself with a little more detail,” Donovan says, rolling her eyes. “You owe us that, don’t you think?”
His jaw tight, Shaw looks between us, then nods. “I was away on business when my wife posted that nonsense story about you, Miss Tate. By the time I learned about it, the damage was already done. I warned her that I won’t tolerate her using my platform as a means of revenge.”
“That wasn’t the first time she manipulated your content,” I point out.
“No,” he agrees, “but it was the first time she bypassed my team. Before that, she was simply a source because of her connection to you.”
According to Chad, Shaw married my mom almost three years ago, and I can’t help but wonder if she got into the relationship because of Hot Scoop or if it was the other way around.
I’m not sure I care enough to ask, but there’s a small part of me that will always be curious.
When she talked about love, was that genuine?
Or just another way to manipulate me? Has she ever had a relationship that wasn’t for her own gain?
“How many of the more recent stories about Derek have come from Brenda?” Donovan asks, interrupting my thoughts.
Shaw’s fingers curl into fists, but his almost mournful expression doesn’t match the anger in his body language.
“Like I said, I turned a blind eye and should have paid more attention. She no longer had access to the back end, but after I saw the latest story about you, Derek, it was clear to me that my warning went ignored and she still has influence over some of my staff. She’s gone too far this time; I came back early to make sure this ends now. ”
Whatever I expected him to say, it wasn’t this. It wasn’t a calm acceptance of his mistake and placing blame exactly where it’s due. I’m not sure how to respond, and Donovan keeps her mouth shut as we both stare at the man in front of us.
“And,” he continues on a heavy sigh, “now my readership is down forty percent because I let my wife build my subscribers around their affection for you, and her desperation broke the illusion that we are anything but what we are.”
Why is there an apology sitting on my tongue? This is Hot Scoop. They’ve been a thorn in my side for years and add unnecessary strain to people who already work in emotionally trying professions. Either Shaw is a lot more skilled in manipulation than I would have given him credit or…
I purse my lips. I know exactly what that mournful look in his eyes means.
My body tenses in unease, though that could also be from the continued shouting match happening on the other side of the door. Gina and Toby don’t seem to be tiring out at all.
“You should cut ties with your wife,” Donovan says with more bitterness than I expect from her, and her grip on my hand tightens. “From where I’m sitting, she ruins anything she touches.”
Shaw clenches his jaw. “I’ve thought about it,” he admits.
“But you love her.” My words come out without any strength.
I never thought I could pity a man who would build a business around exploiting others for his own gain, but now that I know how deeply love can root itself inside a person, I understand how hard it would be to hold a loved one back from chasing happiness.
Whether my mom really loves Shaw, Shaw obviously loves her.
“Yes,” Shaw says, meeting my gaze with eyes full of emotion, like he can read my thoughts. Maybe he can. It’s not like I’m actively hiding anything right now.
“So, what now?” I ask as something heavy settles inside me. My issue isn’t with Neil Shaw, no matter how much I despise his website. This conversation could go any number of ways, and I wouldn’t leave satisfied.
Shaw grimaces. “Now I give you my word that things around here will change.”
Donovan scoffs. “Why would we believe you?”
“Because I—”
Gina and Toby go suddenly silent, and all three of us look at the closed door as Toby swears loudly.
My stomach twists in a knot.
Donovan’s hand tightens around mine.
And a woman’s voice calls across the office.
“Neil, honey, I saw your car outside! I didn’t realize you’d be coming back earl—oh.
” Brenda freezes halfway through opening Shaw’s door, her eyes wide and fixed on me.
She recovers faster than I expected, smiling broadly as she steps into the room.
“I hoped you would come to your senses eventually, Derek. I’m so glad to…
” She trails off when her eyes focus on Donovan behind me.
Then down to our clasped hands. Again, she adjusts her expression and stands tall. “Neil, maybe you and I should—”
“Now is not the time,” Shaw says through clenched teeth.
Her smile falters but remains in place. “But—”
“I’m in the middle of a business meeting, as you can see.”
Brenda’s expression sharpens. “With my son.”
“You don’t have any of those.” It takes me a second to realize that I’m the one who said that, and though the words make me nauseous, I stand by them. To emphasize the point, I get to my feet and tower over her. “You made that perfectly clear when I was six years old.”
“Derek.” She steps toward me but freezes when I hold up a hand. “I told you I was trying to fix that mistake.”
“Maybe for your own sake, but it has never been for mine.” There’s more ice in my tone than I’d like, but I can only do so much to hold back the lingering pain this woman caused me throughout my life.
As much as I want to shut Shaw down and save the world from Hollywood Hot Scoop’s vitriol, more than anything I just want to move on from Brenda and live my life.
She’s been a part of it for too long, whether she knows it or not.
I look at Donovan, who seems to be waiting for me to decide how to proceed as she keeps me steady with her fingers laced through mine.
I look at Brenda and her wild eyes as I’m sure she tries to find a way to shift things to her advantage.
Then I look at Shaw, who still carries the same mournful resignation that he’s had since he arrived.
There isn’t a way for all of us to win here.
“Derek,” Brenda says again, her voice sugary sweet. “Let’s talk about this. Whatever you think I did to you, we can—”
“Whatever I think you did?” Fury and hurt push me to my feet, and though I hate losing my connection to Donovan, I stalk toward Brenda anyway, backing her up against the door. “You put all your guilt and shame on the shoulders of a six-year-old and somehow think it was my fault?”
Brenda cowers beneath me but manages to still stare up at me with defiance. “You can’t pin your terrible childhood all on me,” she says with a scoff. “Your father—”