Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
By the time the sun dipped low enough to throw long shadows across the living room, Paige had settled into her usual end-of-day routine. When she wasn’t doing something with Graham, that was.
She had her laptop open, phone beside her and a glass of iced tea on the side table.
Reviewing comments wasn’t her favorite task, but it was part of the job now that she was a paid influencer.
Her level of engagement mattered, at least to her, and she wanted to keep a finger on the pulse of what people were responding to, as well as interact with those who’d commented.
As much as she could anyway. There were a lot of comments. Her announcement video with Luminelle had taken off faster than she’d expected. But the unboxing video had blown up. Comments stacked up in neat little lines as she scrolled.
So happy for you!
This makes so much sense for Luminelle.
Your skin looks incredible. BUYING!
Well deserved.
Jealous! Off to add to cart.
Paige smiled despite herself. She’d known this partnership was the right move, but it still felt good to have that instinct validated.
As she scrolled through the comments, she tapped a few hearts, replied to a couple of longtime followers by name, thanked someone who said she’d bought the cleanser already.
Then she saw a comment attached to a name she hadn’t expected. Not in plain sight like that.
Darcy Lane.
Paige went still. The comment was recent. Very recent. Posted less than two minutes ago. No emojis. No congratulations. Just one line, sitting there quietly among all the enthusiasm.
Interesting partnership. I suppose it helps when people don’t know the whole story.
Paige stared at it, her stomach dropping like she’d just hit the downslope on a terrifying roller coaster. The nerve of that woman.
She took a breath and blew it out, doing her best to get rid of her gut reaction. Her next instinct was disbelief. Not that Darcy would comment, but that she would do it here. So publicly. Using her real name. Where anyone could see it. Where it could be screenshotted, shared, dissected.
Discussed.
Her second instinct was anger. Hot and sharp, flaring in her chest before she could stop it. Her third was something colder.
So this is how you’re going to play it, she thought. This is really what you think is a smart move? Doing this publicly? You really think you’re above it all, don’t you?
She didn’t respond. Not yet. She needed to think and digest and, at some point, talk to Graham. And the Queen Bees.
She tapped Darcy’s name, half-expecting the account to disappear or be locked down, but it was there. Only a few posts and all of them yoga videos. Not of her, though. Reposts. Just enough activity to look legitimate.
Paige went back to the comment thread and sat there for a long moment, listening to the faint hum of the ceiling fan, the distant sound of a dog barking outside. The soft ticking of the clock on the side table. The house felt very still.
Darcy hadn’t revealed anything really. She’d just suggested she could.
And that, Paige knew, was the point.
Darcy wanted to show she had some kind of power over Paige.
Paige picked her phone up, scrolled to the comment, and took a screenshot. Then another on her laptop, just to be safe. She thought about deleting the comment but didn’t. Not yet. Let it sit, she decided. Let Darcy think she’d gotten away with something.
Paige leaned back and let out a breath.
So far, she’d refused to let Darcy push her into anything. She wasn’t about to start now. But this? This felt like escalation. This was escalation. And Paige wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. She was still sitting there when her phone rang.
Randi’s name lit up the screen.
Paige closed her eyes for a brief second before answering. She could guess what this was about. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“Mom.” Randi didn’t bother with a greeting. Her voice was tight, controlled in that way Paige recognized immediately. Anger held in check by effort. “Why is there a comment on your Luminelle post implying you’re hiding something? Why haven’t you deleted that nonsense?”
Paige sat up straighter and picked up her iced tea, though she didn’t drink it. “I figured that was why you were calling.”
“You figured right,” Randi said. “Because I’m furious. I saw it and so have other people, obviously. Someone already replied asking what she means. This is how rumors start.”
“I know,” Paige said calmly, although she hadn’t seen anyone responding to the comment. That had to have just happened. “And I haven’t deleted it because I want to see what she does next.”
“I don’t like this. This could cause problems. It might already be. You’re going to get more of these crazies now that your account is growing. Seriously, I would not let anything negative stay visible like that.”
“But if I delete it, I have a feeling she’ll just be back with something else. She seems relentless like that.” Paige began to second-guessing her choice to allow the comment to remain.
“Mom. You’re talking like you know this woman. Do you?”
“Yes. She’s the one I had the little run-in with at the fitness center. Didn’t I tell you about that?”
There was a sharp exhale on the other end. “No. Tell me everything.”
Paige hesitated, but there was no point in not telling Randi about the incident. The cat was out of the bag, so to speak. “Her name is Darcy Lane. She’s a new resident at the Colony.”
“And?”
“And she cornered me at the fitness center last week,” Paige said. “She was friendly enough at first. Then she implied she knows why my marriage really ended.”
Silence.
Randi finally spoke, more quietly now. “What do you mean, implied?”
“She didn’t exactly say it outright,” Paige said. “But she didn’t have to. It felt like she knew about your father. About the affair. About who he cheated with. She wanted me to know she knew.”
Randi swore under her breath. “How?”
“I don’t know,” Paige said honestly. “I’ve had some of my friends looking into her. I believe she was vague about things on purpose. It gives her leverage without committing to anything in black and white.”
“And you didn’t do anything else about her, after that confrontation in the fitness center?” Randi asked.
“What could I do,” Paige asked, “besides have my friends look into her? It felt like she was just trying to see how I’d react. I thought it would go away, since she got involved in something else here at the Colony. I should have known better.”
“I’d say so, because she obviously didn’t go away,” Randi said bitterly.
“I know,” Paige said softly. “I’m sorry.”
Randi was quiet again, then, “So why not delete it? Why leave it there for people to speculate?”
“Because if I delete it, she gets exactly what she wants,” Paige said. “A reaction. Proof she rattled me. And she’ll just escalate in a different way.”
“And what happens when more people see it and start asking questions?”
“Then she has to decide whether she’s actually willing to say something specific,” Paige said. “Right now, she’s hinting. That’s safe for her. The moment she makes a claim, she opens herself up to consequences. Legal consequences.”
Randi sighed. “I guess you’re right. But I still think you should delete it. You don’t need that kind of crazy in your life.”
“I don’t, you’re right,” Paige said. “But I live in the same community as she does. It’s not like I can delete the comment and she disappears. The good news is, I’ve got friends around me who know what’s going on. Maude. Cece. Blaise. Essie. Althea. I’m not alone.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Randi said. “I’m worried about your online persona being hurt. Or blindsided by whatever she might do next.”
Paige smiled faintly. “I’ve already been blindsided once in my life by your father. I survived it. I won’t let Darcy use that against me now.”
Randi didn’t answer right away. When she did, her voice was more resigned. “If she crosses a line, you tell me. Please. Right away.”
“I will,” Paige said. “I promise.”
“And if she tries to use what Dad—”
“I will shut it down,” Paige said. “Publicly, if I have to. But on my terms.”
Randi let out a breath. “Okay. I don’t love it. But I trust you. Mostly.”
Paige laughed softly. “That’s fair.”
Randi added, “Your skin really does look amazing, by the way.”
Paige smiled, tension easing just a little. “Thank you. I like the products a lot. I have some extras. I’ll put them in the mail to you.”
“Thanks,” Randi said. “And for the record, I’m watching that woman and that comment like a hawk.”
“So am I,” Paige said.
They hung up a moment later. Paige set her phone down and glanced back at the screen, at Darcy’s comment still sitting there, unchanged.
Let her wonder why I’ve let it stay, Paige thought. Let her wonder what I might be thinking. And what I might do next.