CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Blair
William’s mansion was all I’d expected it to be—over the top, tasteless, and too big for just one man.
It raised the question of how one government official could afford such a lavish lifestyle.
Tonight, it gathered the “crème de la crème” of our town, who showed up for another night of keeping up appearances and making connections.
The great room, which I assumed had been transformed into a ballroom for the occasion, was bustling with activity, ostentatious gowns, suits, and masks of all colors displayed everywhere around me. It was ironic. We were all wearing masks, but tonight would be all about unmasking.
A server passed me with a tray of champagne flutes, and I took one, but it was all for appearances. I had no plans to drink. I needed to be in full possession of my senses.
My dad was now on the other side of the room, talking to a group of investors.
He’d left me earlier with another warning to behave, and his hawkish gaze tracked me every once in a while, making sure I adhered to that.
His eyes met mine again now, and I raised my glass to my mouth, pretending to drink from it. I lowered it the moment he looked away.
I started to stroll around. Men threw me glances as I passed, and I dodged a few who wanted to approach me.
I needed no distractions. The last and only time I saw William was when I arrived with Dad, when he declared I sought him when the ball was in full swing, his slightly unfocused eyes proposing all kinds of things he wanted to do to me as he scanned my dress.
They also suggested the glass of whiskey in his hand wasn’t his first, which told me the right time to approach him would be when he was drunk enough to make mistakes.
One glance at the clock above one of the fireplaces told me the time for it was right about now.
My heart started to pound. Taking a deep breath, I deposited my full glass on the first available surface and headed to the restroom to set up my phone for filming.
The idea to make William reveal everything while recording him LIVE for TikTok secretly was a no-brainer—after all, it was Zach’s formula.
It only required me to expose all my vulnerabilities and secrets to the world, and what was worse, I had to do it when all eyes were on me for all the wrong reasons.
It was terrifying, and I didn’t want to do it, but I’d already been exposed for my past. This was for my future.
I entered the restroom at the end of the hallway and stopped by the sinks after I confirmed the stalls were empty, readjusting my mask as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Everything had to go well. It was now or never.
Giving myself enough time to prepare, I reapplied my lipstick and smoothed a few stray strands of my hair with my hands. Imagine your phone is your camera. You’re alone in your room and pouring your thoughts out.
I inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. Okay.
I took my phone out of my purse and pulled up TikTok, going live. I waited a minute until I saw more people watching. It was showtime.
“Hi, guys. Tonight’s LIVE is going to be different. I’m going to give you an insight into my world, but first, I’ll start by addressing you-know-what. That’s me in the video. It’s not fake. That was all me, and I don’t want to keep lying to you or brush it all off.
“I don’t want to excuse myself. I won’t pretend I was a good person. I wasn’t. And for a long time, I played the role of a nice girl while hiding my true self. However, as I mentioned in my last post, I no longer want to hide myself. I want all the masks to come off.
“For my whole life, I was taught the only thing that mattered was power, and you do anything you can to acquire it. You cheat, you lie, you fight dirty . . . but of course, you make sure it’s all concealed.
Because what’s power without keeping up appearances?
I was taught to uphold that power, to do anything for my family and avoid public scrutiny, but here I am, fully honest with you for the first time.
Power is not freedom. Money is not everything.
And my life is not a fairy tale I paint on my social media.
“I’m not saying all these things as a justification. There’s no justification for all the things I’ve done. And I’ll never be able to erase them, to erase all the pain I caused.” I curled my hand against the tattoo, swallowing past a wave of desolation. I pushed that memory aside.
“But I can finally give you the truth about my life, my family, and a certain someone who thinks he’s untouchable. So stay tuned because tonight I’m going to show you just how ugly my world is.
“But before that, in case something goes wrong, call the police.” I told them William’s address.
Making sure it was still recording, I put the phone in the purse’s side pocket I’d made for this occasion, which had a small, imperceptible hole on the outer side for the camera, and zipped the purse.
My heart was pounding, and my palms were sweating.
That said a lot because I wasn’t one to get nervous in front of an audience.
But it was easy to put on an act for the world. Being real was the hard part.
I headed back to the great room. The music had switched to a slower song, and several couples took the dance floor, the women’s gowns sweeping around them.
William stood with several men near the bar running the length of one side of the room.
Their laughter boomed over the music, the smoke of their cigars twirling above their heads.
I started toward them, but Dad stopped me, gripping my arm.
“Don’t make William wait any longer, Blair.”
My nails dug into my palm. “I was just on my way.”
He angled his head. “Were you? Or were you trying to get yourself out of this?”
I stared daggers at him. “If I really wanted to get out of this, I’d already be gone.
” I extricated my arm from his grasp and was about to leave him when I realized he’d given me the perfect opportunity to make this even worse for him.
“Just out of curiosity, how many more buildings that don’t meet the requirements are you going to build before William stops issuing you invalid permits? ”
His eyes widened. “Where did you get that from?”
It came from an old article on the internet that had been dismissed as pure speculation, but judging by his reaction now, it wasn’t speculation at all. “It’s true, isn’t it? You built half of this town on lies. People lost their homes because of you.”
He snatched my arm again, this time squeezing so hard it was probably going to leave a bruise. “You’re out of line again, Blair. What I do and how I conduct my business has nothing to do with you. All you need to care about is to keep giving William what he wants, or do I need to punish you again?”
I curled my lip at him. “The whipping you gave me was more than enough.”
“As long as we’re on the same page about that.”
“You know we are. I don’t want you to use Melody like you used me for your dirty deals.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Go to William.” He downed his drink and headed over to the bar.
My lips twitched with a smile before I suppressed it. If only he knew everyone was privy to our conversation, and it was just the kind of incriminating information I needed to get against him.
William’s acquaintances noticed me first, and they turned one by one to follow my approach. I had to fight with all I had not to grimace as their gazes lingered on either my breasts or my legs, turning salacious. They were in their fifties, and all of them wore wedding bands.
I stopped with my hand perched on my hip, offering William a smile. “Good evening, gentlemen. I’m sorry to interrupt, but can I have a moment with William?”
William leered at me, his fake white teeth too big for his mouth. “You can interrupt anytime, sweetie,” he said, and the men nodded, each of them chuckling. “If you’ll excuse me. I have to attend to this young lady.”
The man next to him gave me a once-over, his smile widening. “No objections there. No one would talk business with someone so beautiful as her around.”
“Her beauty is not the only good thing about her. She can make it really worthwhile for you, if you know what I mean.” William winked at him.
The men boomed into laughter, and I ground my teeth hard, my muscles hurting as I fought to maintain a big smile on my face. William’s hands pressed to the small of my back, and I almost winced as he steered me away from his acquaintances, leading us out.
“Let’s go to my study. We’ll have privacy there,” he said and took me up the stairs in the foyer.
The music and conversations were a distant noise on the second floor.
The carpet swallowed the sound of our footsteps as William led me to a secluded part of the hallway, far away from any possible interference.
He opened the door of his study and motioned for me to enter first. I grimaced as I headed inside and felt his gaze on my ass.
He locked the door behind him, the click of the lock making me swallow.
I went over to the bookshelf across the room, putting as much distance between us as possible. The office was spacious, with a lot of open space by the balcony doors and the fireplace overlooking his massive mahogany desk, but it didn’t feel large enough with him here.
He took off his mask and tossed it in the armchair, revealing the bruises Zach had left. They made his unpleasant face appear even more repugnant. “I’ve waited all night for this. We were interrupted last time.” His face hardened.
“You’re not bothered about that video of me?
” I said, shifting to another topic before he could mention Zach and what he’d done to him.
He couldn’t know he was the man in the video because the shot had been zoomed in on me with his dick blurred, but I would’ve expected him to consider me damaged goods now.