prick. But not anymore.
I wasn’t going to abandon her, and I wasn’t abandoning my band, either. I was going to fix all of this, no matter what it took. I had enough inner strength, power in the industry, and financial resources to take on whatever Darren fucking Randall wanted to dish out. And Douglas Fox was nothing more than a blip on the radar. I’d fuck him up. Now I just had to convince Ariel I was in it for the long haul because my gut told me she wasn’t going to be easy to win back.
34
Ariel
The days that followed packing up my stuff from my house were the most stressful of my whole life. Even more so than my mom’s death and getting arrested at seventeen. Between multiple sessions with the psychiatrist, whom I really liked, to my father calling Madeline’s firm dozens of times a day, to the news about the conservatorship case leaking, I was a wreck. I was locked away in the apartment Madeline had put me in, but I was so stressed I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, and was barely functional.
Thankfully, the new psychiatrist recognized everything going on in my life and was extremely patient. She relaxed me like no one else could right now, so I actually looked forward to our meetings. Since she needed to come up with a full profile for me, we met for several hours a day over three days. It allowed her time to work on her notes and for me to prepare for what was coming. My father wasn’t messing around now that he knew he was potentially going to lose his control over me and had started a smear campaign that was horrifying.
I was in the news all day, every day. He leaked info about my mother’s suicide that had never been public before and said it explained my genetic pre-disposal to bipolar disorder. The pictures of me being arrested were everywhere, and I cringed every time I saw one. Madeline was on top of everything, keeping me as calm as she could, but deep down, I was embarrassed and terrified. I’d finally taken control of my life, but as always, nothing was going according to plan. We’d been prepared for backlash, but not for every ugly thing about my life to be front and center in the news.
Tyler had called and texted several times, but I was too raw to talk to him, so I’d ignored his messages. I hadn’t even spoken to Lexi much, other than a few texts telling her I was okay. It wasn’t until Stu’s name flashed on the screen of my phone that I paused, both curious and guilty. He was going through the same type of public smear campaign I was, so he probably understood like no one else.
“Hi, Stu,” I answered hesitantly.
“There you are, lass! You’ve had us worried.”
“Us?”
He paused. “Well, yeah. Me. The band. Tyler.”
“I told Lexi I’m okay, just laying low until we can get in front of a judge.”
“We’ve still been worried. How are you doing? What’s going on?”
“I’m doing okay. My attorney is badass, and she’s handling everything. I’m pretty much hiding in this apartment she put me in. Her law firm owns it.”
“If you hide, you’re letting him win,” he said gently.
“I don’t see you out and about,” I protested.
“It’s different for me. I actually did what they say I did, and I’ve already said everything I’m ever going to say about the accident. I hired a crisis management publicist—you should check her out. Name is Kate Lansing. She’s amazing. Used her when I first got out of prison.”
“You should text me her number,” I said thoughtfully. “Maybe when this is over I can hire her to get me out of the news completely.”
“I will.” He paused. “What can we do, Ariel? Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m good. Thank you. My attorney got in front of a judge and got a court order to make sure my father doesn’t cut me off from my money while we wait for the hearing, so I was able to give her a retainer, and I have money for anything I need.”
“Right then, just wanted you to know I’m here, yeah?” He paused. “You talk to Tyler?”
“Mmm, no. We’re, uh, taking a break right now.”
“I heard. Tell him to stop being a numpty, yeah? And call me if you need me, lass.”
“Thank you, Stu. It means a lot that you called.”
“Cheers!”
He disconnected, and I felt oddly out of