parents’ death, the car crash, the injury. Every last bit of it. I swear, you had me crying and staying up all night to read it when you sent it over. That poor man, how he survived—”
That strange white heat spreads across my skin, perspiration forming at my hairline. “But I didn’t put that in there. He told me those stories in confidence, and I would never, ever use his, or anyone else’s sorrow, except maybe my own, for my personal and financial gain.” What the hell? Who did this?
“Katie, I’m sorry but—"
“It must have been someone at the publishing house. Is there anyone there who would do something like this? Dig up a story and sneak it into my manuscript, then leak it to the press?” Jumping up from the couch, I begin to pace.
“Uh—uh. No. They wouldn’t do that.”
Throwing a hand up in the air I shout into the phone. “But you and your team are literally the only people who have had access to this book besides me!”
Frustration laces her tone. “Listen, Katie—the leak wasn’t here. We’re such a small team, and I know each and every woman personally. This company was founded on women lifting one another up, not women cutting one another down and no one here would do such a despicable thing like this.”
She keeps talking, but her words fade to the background. One thing she’s said remains in the forefront of my hazy mind.
Women cutting one another down…
I think back to that morning I was so hurriedly packing at Gran’s. How I had a nagging feeling I’d left my computer on the nightstand from the evening before. That nagging feeling wouldn’t go away, so I made Darius pull over the car to be sure we had my computer with us. But it wasn’t in the part of my bag I normally keep it in.
Because… I wasn’t the one who put it in there.
Someone did have access to my computer. Someone who despises me, who wants to tear me down.
Someone with a personality as fake as her boobs.
We’d had our fight at the party. She’d stormed off with Rawley. I think back to the direction she left in… I’m sure she was headed to the house. She could have easily had a thumb drive on her, lifting my story from my computer.
And I’m the idiot that never password protected my computer.
When I first set the computer up, I decided that it was a lot more likely I would forever lock myself out of my own computer than anything like this would ever happen.
And yet… it has.
“Sarah. I think I know who it was. I think I know who did this.”
“Who? Tell me now because so help me she’s about to have her head shaved by yours truly.”
Imagining Tiffany sans her long perfect locks, I almost giggle. Then, the sinking feeling returns to the pit of my stomach, thinking of the anger and sorrow in Darius’s face when the story broke.
The way he looked at me with such hatred.
I try to focus on the conversation at hand, forcing myself to speak through the pain. “Yes. She’s a jealous ex of Darius’s from back home. Though I’ve no idea what she’s jealous for, she’s twice as pretty as me—a beauty queen, as she reminded me several times—and didn’t want him in the first place.”
“Katie, you’re a true gem. Everyone that meets you falls in love with you. You’re kind and sweet and funny and those are qualities that can’t be bought. This bitch sounds fake as shit. And mean.”
“She is mean. Really mean.” Tiffany’s hatred for carbs plays back in my mind… sweetness and cellulite. I almost feel sorry for her, to be so hateful, so bitter.
She may have thought Darius was a pervert, but of all the women I can think of that need a Daddy to spank their ass—she’s on the top of my list. “I know she did it. She had access to my computer. She must have added that chapter on my computer, then downloaded the file and shared parts of my book with the press.”
The sound of Sarah tapping her pen on her desk comes over the line. “Katie Ann Davis. How many times have I told you? Do not under any circumstances send me a book without doing a final read through of the entire thing before you send it over?”
Giving a groan, I put my palm to my forehead. “I know, I know, but Darius was just so… distracting.