Chapter 216

Asher led me to his car, and we drove across town to the newspaper headquarters where Chase worked. Once inside, we followed the sound of Chase’s raised voice toward the open-door office of his boss. Everyone was so busy working that no one paid us any mind.

“I don’t care what they said, sir. Can’t you see? They are afraid of the truth coming out. They’re trying to silence us to keep their gross behavior under the radar.”

“I understand that well enough, Chase. But if we push through with this story, we are setting ourselves up for very real financial ramifications. Their threats to have us go bankrupt are not false promises. We’re already on the edge.”

“So we’re just going to be let ourselves be bought? What happened to journalistic integrity?”

“There won’t be room for journalistic anything if we have to permanently close our doors.”

Asher and I had been standing patiently outside the door, but upon hearing this, and the way Chase struggled to formulate a reply, we glanced at each other, nodded, and then pushed our way into the office.

Chase glanced back at us, his face twisted up in a grimace. He didn’t seem all that surprised to see us.

The boss stood up from behind his desk as our arrival. “What is this?”

“My informants for the article,” Chase said. “They have special knowledge about everything that happened.”

“Please,” I said at once, as I came to stand in front of the boss’s desk. “You can’t stop this article.”

His eyes softened, sympathetic, but still, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, miss. But the reasoning behind this decision is not something you would understand.”

“Maybe not,” I admitted. “But I know the reasons the article must be published no matter what. The threat of these people are very real. If we don’t push forward, if we let this story die, then so many other girls are going to be at risk.”

“That’s unfortunate, but –”

“It happened to me, sir,” I said.

It was difficult to speak of my past, of being attacked by Lamar and having to face everything that came after. But I knew that if I didn’t, if I cowered as I truly wanted to, then so many other girls would suffer. To protect them, to stop Joseph and his club, I had to speak up with my own truth, my own story.

Asher came to stand beside me, offering me comfort with his presence. I took his hand and he laced our fingers together, helping me to feel safe.

With Asher here to protect, no one could hurt me, not even the shadows from my past.

“A man named Lamar pretended to be my friend so that he could get close to me. When I trusted him, he betrayed me. He… wanted to force me to…” I huffed a breath, gathering my courage. “He wanted to record it. Fortunately, Asher rescued me just in time.”

I closed my eyes. I hated to imagine what would have happened if Asher had only been a few minutes late. Lamar would have forced me to do things I never wanted. Yet stomach-twisting as it was to think on it, I forced myself to face that truth, knowing many other girls were not so fortunate as I had been.

“I was lucky,” I said. Asher squeezed my hand. “But so many other girls were not. They were violated and abused, with their trusts betrayed. Their attacks were recorded, and posted to a website. These girls were then blackmailed, threatened to have their assaults made public.”

I swallowed down the rising bile in my throat. “Even if they agreed to the blackmail, the videos were shared among others of the group, including those of high ranking within the Academy.”

The boss’s face darkened as I spoke. “How high ranking?”

“The Vice President,” Chase chimed in. “I have evidence, sir. We caught him admitting it on tape.”

“He… enjoys the videos,” I said, words vile on my tongue.

“Sick bastard,” the boss said. “Arrogant son of a bitch.”

His slew of cursing startled me, but it seemed to embolden Chase.

“Let me guess,” he said, walking closer to the desk. “The one who called and threatened us was the Vice President himself.”

The boss glowered. “That cocky asshole.”

That seemed to indicate an affirmative.

“He’s bluffing, then,” Chase said. “He’s only trying to stop the article to keep himself from being implicated. I bet he has no legs to stand on. If the rest of the Academy administration knew who he really was…”

The boss suddenly stood. “Get that article to print, Chase. I will not have my hands tied by someone like that. Even if he isn’t bluffing. Even if he takes us down…”

“He won’t,” Chase said.

“Even if he tries, we won’t let him win,” the boss said.

“Thank you,” I said, tears in my eyes. “Thank you so much.”

Asher pulled me into his arms, somehow knowing I needed a hug. I hid my eyes in his chest as I struggled to recover myself.

“You are very brave,” the boss said. Rounding his desk he came to stand beside us, and gently patted my back. “This article will go to print in large part because of you.” To Chase, he said, “I want it on the front page tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.” Chase darted from the room.

Later, Chase took Asher and me out to celebrate. I called Aimee and Nicole and they joined us at a bar. We all felt victorious, like we were nearing the end of something. Too often, we were cowed with fear or heartache. It felt good to cut loose for a change.

Among them, they all had perhaps too much to drink. Being pregnant, I just watched, amused by their antics.

Aimee and Nichole were playing a game where they were watching Asher and Chase react to different things, to see their similarities and differences.

So far, both Asher and Chase both scrunched their noses at overly-sweet drinks. Then they both offered to buy the next round at the same time, in the same way, when Aimee pointed out she was empty.

They differed, however, in their reaction to stories. Chase laughed big and bright at just about anything. Asher was much more reserved, holding his amusement for only things that he found truly funny. Even then, the most he would give is a soft smile or a huff of a breath, meant to be laughter.

I personally had earned more expressive reactions from him, but he wasn’t one to share them with others.

As Aimee and Nicole went to the bar to order sour drinks to try, Asher excused himself to go to the bathroom. This left Chase and me alone at the table.

Chase leaned his face into his hand, his elbow on the table. I sipped on my virgin strawberry daiquiri.

“You did a good job today,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“Asher thinks so, too. He’s quite fond of you, you know. He tries to play safe, but I’ve known him a long time. I can see through his façade. He might not be able to say it yet, but I’d be willing to bet that he’s in love with you.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t accept that. “If he does feel that way for me, I will wait for him to say so before I believe it.”

Chase shrugged. “I suppose that’s very astute of you. Though it does make me wonder if those hidden feelings of Asher’s are reciprocated. I know him well, but I just met you. Tell me, Cynthia. How do you really feel about my brother?”

I hadn’t been drinking tonight, but I felt a bit drunk, just from the atmosphere. This was a victory celebration which lifted my mood. And seeing my friends so happy and mischievous made me want to be as well.

I supposed there was no harm in telling Chase the truth.

“I love him,” I said. “Even if it’s not the same for him, I still love him. He’s very special to me. Now that he’s in my life, I’m not sure I’d know what to do without him.”

Chase smiled. “I doubt you’ll ever have to find out. Oh, hello, brother. Didn’t see you there.”

The blood drained from my face. I swiveled around in my seat.

Asher was standing just behind me.

How much had he heard?