Chapter 19
LILA
Iwoke to sunlight streaming through the curtains and the weight of Vance’s arm around my waist. For a moment, I just lay there, listening to him breathe.
How was it possible that this time last month, I hadn’t even known him?
Now, he and Margot felt like they’d always belonged with Mia and me.
Despite my work life being in chaos, one thing was clear—my family was what mattered.
I’d do whatever it took to protect them.
I turned slightly, studying his face in the morning light. Even in sleep, he calmed my nerves, slowed my pulse. All my life, I’d been hoping for a man like this and now, here he was, fighting for me. For us.
His eyes opened, finding mine immediately.
“Morning,” he said, voice rough with sleep.
“Morning.” I managed a small smile.
He pulled me closer. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a truck,” I said. “But better than last night.”
“That’s something.”
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. Holding my breath, I reached for it. What new hell would be waiting this morning? But it wasn’t tabloids—it was my friends.
Seraphina
Have you seen the comments this morning? People are starting to question the narrative. This is good.
Esme
How are you holding up? Do you need anything? I can bring coffee. Or wine. Or both.
Delphine
I’m ready to drive to the studio and slash some tires. Just say the word.
Gillian
Alex wants to help. He has connections—lawyers, PR people, whatever you need.
Seraphina
I’m drafting a statement for you. For when you’re ready to tell your side. No pressure.
Lila
I’m okay. Vance is here. We’re going to see his lawyer this morning. Vance sent him my contract. He’s also looking into Kenzie, Beau, and Carol—to see if there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
Esme
Good. I’ll come by and get the girls. We can go to the beach. Only five more days until school starts.
I looked at Vance. “Esme’s offering to take the girls to the beach.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” he said. “Give us space to deal with this.”
Lila
That would be amazing. Can you pick them up around ten?
Esme
Absolutely.
Seraphina
Also, I can help with lawyer fees if you need it. I know how expensive this stuff gets.
My throat tightened.
Lila
Thank you, but Vance is helping with all of that.
Gillian
Okay, but seriously, if you need ANYTHING—money, childcare, a place to hide out—we’re here.
Delphine
Or if you need someone to punch Beau in the face. I volunteer.
Despite everything, I smiled.
Lila
I love you guys. Thank you.
Seraphina
We love you too. Now go kick some butt.
I set the phone down, wiping my eyes.
“Your friends are pretty great,” Vance said.
“They are.” I took a deep breath. “Esme’s picking up the girls at ten.”
“Good. I’ll tell Ethan we’ll be there by half past,” Vance said.
We lay there for a few more minutes, neither of us wanting to move. The peace between us felt fragile but real—like the quiet after a storm.
Still, I knew what had to be done. I threw back the covers, squared my shoulders, and said, “Let’s go fix this.”
Ethan Prescott’s office was a white two-story bungalow tucked behind a bank, its shingles weathered by sea air and its trim freshly painted.
Vance reached for my hand as we climbed the front steps, his thumb grazing mine in quiet reassurance.
Ethan greeted us at the door himself—mid-fifties, with salt-and-pepper hair cut short and a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a navy button-down and suspenders over charcoal trousers. He immediately struck me as the kind of man who didn’t need to look like a power player because he already was one.
“Lila, good to meet you,” he said, shaking my hand with a firm grip. “Come in. Coffee?”
We declined, then followed him into a cozy office lined with bookshelves. A thick file sat on his desk.
“First things first,” he said once we were seated. “I’ve reviewed your contract with the production company. There’s no clause that gives them creative control over your personal relationships. You’re not in breach, no matter what they’re claiming.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “That’s something.”
“But I have something else,” Ethan continued.
“Vance asked me to look into Kenzie Jayne’s background.
I started with the usual—public records, business registrations, social media.
There’s almost nothing there. It’s too clean.
Too curated. Eventually, I found a credit trail that led to a different name entirely. ”
He slid a sheet of paper across the desk.
“Anne Gilmore. She changed her name legally in 2016.”
I stared at the name.
Anne Gilmore.
Something tugged at my memory. An image flashed before my eyes of a young woman in the front row of a classroom, heavy eyeliner, a permanent scowl.
“Oh my God,” I said slowly. “I know her.”
Both men looked at me.
“She went to design school with me. When I first met Kenzie prior to the shoot, she mentioned our design-school affiliation, but I didn’t put it together until now.
She said she was a few years behind me—but she was actually in my class!
We weren’t friends. In fact, she gave me the creeps.
Always quiet, intense, watching me constantly.
I thought she was just competitive. Or weird. ”
“What else do you remember?” Ethan asked.
I pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to pull the memories forward.
“There was an incident. My second year. I was preparing for an exhibition. I’d worked for weeks on a design board, but then decided it wasn’t working and pivoted to a different concept at the last minute.
I left the first pitch in my cubby.” My stomach turned as I continued.
“A few weeks later, another classmate presented something nearly identical. My friends recognized it. Someone reported it. The next day, Anne was gone. We assumed she’d been expelled. ”
“She was,” Ethan confirmed. “For plagiarizing your work. Professors verified the designs were yours based on prior proposals.”
“I felt bad,” I said. “I thought if I’d just put it away properly, maybe she wouldn’t have been tempted. But I never thought she blamed me. She’s the one who stole it.”
“No school would admit her after that,” Ethan said. “She moved to Los Angeles, reinvented herself as Kenzie Jayne, and worked her way up in reality TV production.”
Vance leaned forward. “But how did she manipulate the network to hire Lila?”
Ethan passed us another document. “This is the pitch she used to convince them you were the perfect host. It says right in there about how you’re an unknown, but perfect for the concept.
She did a great job putting together a comprehensive argument.
And it must have worked, because you got the call. ”
“I was really surprised they were interested,” I said.
“In my opinion, this was all part of a master plan,” Ethan said. “To create a scenario where she could publicly destroy you.”
“Just to sabotage me?” I asked.
“To ruin you,” Ethan said. “This isn’t about ratings. It’s personal revenge. I’m assuming she thinks destroying you will restore what she lost.”
“She’s insane,” I said.
“And dangerous,” Ethan said. “In my experience, people like her don’t stop. But now that we know who she is, we have leverage. We can go to the network and show them they hired a producer with a fraudulent identity and a personal vendetta.”
“Will they fire her?”
“Maybe. If not immediately, they’ll be on notice. And if she makes one more wrong move, we’ll have grounds to bury her legally.”
“What about getting me out of the contract?” I asked.
“That’s trickier. The blackmail and sabotage help, but we need more concrete proof. Right now, it’s your word against theirs about what happened with the cabinets and the threats.”
My heart sank. “So I’m still stuck.”
“For now. But I’m working on it. In the meantime, you have to go back to set. Act normal. Don’t let them know we’re onto them.”
“I have to keep working with her? Knowing what she’s done?”
“Just for a little while,” Ethan said. “Until we build an airtight case. Can you do that?”
I looked at Vance. He squeezed my hand.
“I can do it,” I said.
“Good. Keep your head down. Document everything. And if anything else happens, anything at all, call me immediately.”
We stood to leave.
“One more thing,” Ethan said. “Be careful. Anne Gilmore’s not going to give up easily.”
Back in the car, Vance turned to me. “I can’t believe this. We were right. We knew something felt off.”
“Yes. But I’d never have thought of this. I mean, who does this?”
“Someone unhinged.”
“I have to go back to set and pretend everything’s normal.
Smile at the woman who’s been systematically destroying my life.
” What would cause a woman to spend so much time and energy on destroying me?
She clearly thought I’d ruined her life.
Perhaps, all these years she’d been waiting for an opportunity to destroy my business.
How long had she been watching me? Had she known all along where I was living? About my business here in Willet Cove?
“You don’t have to go,” Vance said.
“Yes, I do. If I don’t show up, they’ll say I’m in breach. And Ethan needs time to build the case.” I took a breath. “I can handle a few more days.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I. But it’s the only way.”
He pulled me close. “Just be careful. She scares me.”
“She scares me too, but I’m going to have to suck it up and pretend like I’m a better actress than I really am.”
“This will be over soon, baby. Just hang in there. And keep your phone close.”
I nodded. “I’ll share my location with you. Just in case.”
“Good idea. Here. Give it to me. I’ll do it,” Vance said.
“Thank you because my hands are shaking so badly I’m not sure I could do it.”