Chapter 67
AUSTIN
“We got her,” Cash said, his grin splitting wide across his face as he held up his phone. “Every single word. Recorded and backed up to the cloud.”
I twisted in my seat to look at Cleo, who was already nodding, her own phone in hand. “I got it too. Perfectly clear. She admitted to doctoring evidence, going against legal counsel, weaponizing cancel culture for personal gain—all of it.”
Relief crashed over me. I leaned forward, resting my forehead against the steering wheel. “It’s really over?”
“The hard part is,” Cash said, already pulling up his contacts.
“Now we just hand this to our legal team, and they’ll file for an emergency injunction.
Summer won’t be able to go on The Spill Room or any other platform without facing immediate legal consequences for defamation and attempted extortion. ”
He started typing rapidly, forwarding the recording with a message I couldn’t quite see. His fingers moved with the efficiency of someone who’d handled countless crises, and I felt a surge of gratitude for my brother that caught me off guard.
“Cash,” I said.
He looked up from his phone. “Yeah?”
“Thank you. For all of this. For having my back tonight, for the plan, for everything. Without you, this might not have gone so smoothly.”
Cash was quiet for a moment and then he slowly shook his head.
“Without me, this mess might not have happened at all,” he said quietly.
“I’m the one who hired Summer in the first place.
I’m the one who thought I could fix your problems by throwing money at them and controlling the situation.
I should have done a better job vetting her.
That NDA I had her sign was weak. She doesn’t give a shit about having to pay ten grand for breaking it when she’s trying to blackmail us for ten million. It’s worth it to her.”
“You were trying to help.”
“I was trying to fix what I saw as broken,” Cash interrupted.
“And in doing so, I created a whole new problem. I should have told Dad no. Should have pushed back and said that you needed to handle your own life, your own way. But he got in my head, made me think I was protecting you and the family.”
He turned to look at me. “Now I see that all I was doing was bailing water out of a sinking ship. Treating symptoms instead of causes. You deserved better than that, Austin. You deserved someone who believed you could figure it out on your own.”
The honesty in his voice was a surprise. I never thought I would see the day Cash admitted fault or that he had any kind of weakness. The golden child, the one who always had the answers, was telling me he’d been wrong.
“You know what I’ve always admired about you?” Cash continued. “You’ve never had trouble telling Dad no. You just do what you think is right, consequences be damned. I’ve spent my whole life trying to please him, trying to be the son he wanted. And you? You just decided to be yourself.”
I didn’t know what to say. Cash admiring me? That was new territory.
“It’s something I need to get better at,” he said. “Standing up for what I believe instead of just going along with what Dad wants. Maybe then I wouldn’t end up hiring psychotic con artists to babysit my brothers.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. “In your defense, she was very good at hiding the psychotic part.”
“Clearly not good enough, since your girlfriend figured her out in one conversation.”
“Melody is smart as hell.”
“She is,” Cash agreed. “Don’t fuck it up with her.”
I nodded. “I’ve been trying not to.”
We sat there for a moment, both of us processing what just transpired between us. This was the most honest conversation Cash and I had probably ever had. No posturing, no judgment, just two brothers acknowledging they’d both made mistakes and were trying to do better.
Cleo cleared her throat. “Do you guys want me to take a picture?”
The absurdity of the question broke the tension immediately. Cash and I both laughed.
“I’m serious,” Cleo said, but she was grinning. “That was very emotionally vulnerable. Very growth-mindset of you both. We should memorialize it. At least give each other a hug.”
“I think we’re good,” Cash said, but he was still smiling.
“Speak for yourself,” I said. “I could use a hug. But I’m waiting for Melody.”
As if on cue, movement outside caught my eye. Summer emerged from the restaurant, her designer heels clicking on the sidewalk as she headed toward a waiting car. We all ducked instinctively, even though the windows were tinted and there was no way she could see us.
“Get down,” Cleo hissed unnecessarily, practically lying across the back seat.
We watched Summer slide into her car and drive away, completely oblivious to the fact that her entire plan had just imploded.
A few moments later, Melody came out of the restaurant.
Even from here, I could see the relief on her face, the way her shoulders had finally relaxed.
She looked around, spotted our car, and started walking toward us with a grin that made my chest tight.
I was out of the car before I consciously decided to move, pulling her into my arms the second she was close enough. She melted into me. I held her like I’d been afraid I might never get to do this again.
“You were incredible,” I murmured into her hair. “Absolutely incredible.”
“I was terrified the whole time,” she admitted, her voice muffled against my chest. “But we did it. We actually did it.”
“You did it,” I corrected. “You’re the one who sat across from that psycho and got her to confess everything.”
She pulled back to look up at me, her eyes bright. “I want to hear the recording, see what we got.”
“Melody. Austin.” Cash’s voice cut in. He’d gotten out of the car and was standing next to the passenger door. “You can’t be seen together. Not until we’ve dealt with Summer completely. If someone sees you two together now, it undermines the whole breakup narrative.”
I watched Melody’s face fall, and it gutted me. We’d just pulled off this entire elaborate scheme and now she couldn’t even celebrate with us properly because we had to maintain the illusion.
“This sucks,” she said quietly.
“I know,” I said, stroking her hair. “But it’s just a little longer. Once Summer’s dealt with and the story comes out, we can go public for real. No more hiding.”
“How long?”
Cash considered. “Forty-eight hours, maybe seventy-two. Our legal team moves fast, especially when we give them this kind of ammunition.”
Melody nodded, but I could see the disappointment written all over her face. After everything she’d just been through, she deserved a damn parade.
“Actually, I have an idea,” Cash said. “Give me a minute. I know a way to make it up to you both.”
“What kind of idea?” Cleo asked suspiciously.
He made a call, stepping away slightly. We couldn’t hear the full conversation. “I know it’s late… consider it a favor…”
When he hung up, he was smiling. “Dane’s holding a private room for us at Edge. Back entrance, completely separate from the main restaurant. No one will see you together.”
“Are you sure?” Melody asked.
“Dane owes me about seventeen favors, and I just called in one.” Cash gestured toward the restaurant. “Come on. Let’s go celebrate properly. We earned it.”
Cleo climbed back into the car. “I knew I liked you, Cash Bancroft. You’re way more fun than you pretend to be.”
Cash looked genuinely pleased by that, which was somehow endearing. “I have my moments.”
Cleo and Melody sat in the back while I drove us to the restaurant.
We went around to the back entrance of Edge, where a staff member was already waiting to let us in. They led us through the kitchen where Dane himself was barking orders at his sous chefs. We were shown to a small private room.
Within minutes, drinks appeared, along with appetizers that Dane had apparently sent in.
“Okay,” Melody said, settling into the seat beside me and immediately curling into my side. “Play the recording. I want to hear what you guys heard.”
Cash pulled out his phone and cued it up.
We listened to the entire dinner conversation.
Hearing it played back was even more damning than experiencing it in real time.
Summer’s voice, so confident and smug, admitting to everything.
The casual way she talked about destroying my reputation for personal gain.
Cash was making notes as he listened and sipped his drink.
“Holy shit,” Melody breathed when it finished. “She really just said all of that. I was so freaked out she was going to know what I was doing, I kind of blacked out for most of it.”
“She thought you were on her side,” Cleo said, raising her wine glass. “She thought she’d recruited you. You conned the con artist, babe. Epic.”
“I felt sick the whole time,” Melody admitted. “Especially when she started talking about how Austin treated her like furniture and never cared about her. It was so far from the truth, but she believed it completely.”
“Because she wanted to believe it,” Cash said. “It fits her narrative better if we’re the villains. It makes her the victim instead of the opportunist she actually is.”
I laced my fingers through Melody’s, grateful beyond words that she was here. I loved that she had been brave enough to walk into that room and face someone who wanted to destroy me.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“Now, our legal team files for an emergency injunction,” Cash explained.
“They’ll be reaching out to that podcast within the hour.
I’m sure they’ll cancel and Summer is going to be left assuming it will be rescheduled.
Then we’ll present the recording as evidence that Summer is acting in bad faith, doctoring evidence, and attempting to extort the family.
The judge will likely grant a temporary restraining order preventing her from publishing anything until we can have a full hearing. ”
“And The Spill Room?”
“We’ll send them a cease and desist, along with evidence that their guest is planning to present fabricated evidence.
They won’t touch it. The legal liability would be enormous.
” Cash took a sip of his drink. “Summer will wake up tomorrow to find every door closed. No podcast, no expose, no viral moment. Just a very real threat of being sued for defamation and extortion.”
“Good,” Melody said fiercely. “She deserves it.”
Cleo raised her glass. “To Melody, for being an absolute badass. To Cash, for having a conscience. And to Austin, for…” She paused, considering. “For not being as much of a disaster as I thought he was.”
“I’ll take it,” I said, raising my own glass.
We all clinked glasses and drank. I felt like I could actually breathe for the first time in about two days. The threat was neutralized. Summer was finished.
“There’s one more thing,” Cash said, setting down his glass. “Dad needs to know how this turned out. He’s going to want a debrief in the morning.”
I tensed. “He’s going to gloat.”
“Probably,” Cash admitted. “But he’s also going to have to acknowledge that you handled this along with Melody. He’ll have to acknowledge you guys make a good team.”
“Think he’ll actually admit that?”
“Maybe not out loud. But he’ll know.” Cash looked at me. “You proved something tonight, Austin. Not just to Dad, but to all of us. You’re not the screwup everyone thought you were. You’re just obnoxiously different.”
Coming from Cash, that meant everything.
Cash’s phone vibrated on the table. He smiled. “It’s done. They’re drafting the letter to that podcast. By this time tomorrow, Summer Auburn will be nothing but a bad memory.
“I need to thank you guys,” I said, looking around the table. “All of you.”
Melody squeezed my hand. I pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her temple. I was so glad to have all of the bullshit behind us.