“You’ve been sabotaging us from the start,” Liv said softly. “That day when we went hiking….you convinced me to go in the wrong direction. You hoped we would fail the challenge and get voted out quickly. I bet you’ve been trying to sabotage everyone, haven’t you?”
“Aww, look who’s catching on,” Shayla said with a sarcastic smile.
“You set us up,” Liv continued, her lower lips trembling. “You made sure I went to the hut that day two weeks ago. Made sure Dec was there too. You knew what would happen between us.”
Shayla laughed. “No shit. I saw the chemistry between the two of you. A tiny little push was all I needed to get you into a compromising position.” She motioned to the TV screen. “Anyway, I gather you two don’t want Ellen to see any of that, right?”
She was correct. Not because I was actually cheating on Ellen—our marriage was a sham, after all—but because we couldn’t have her knowing about us just yet. Everything could blow up in our face if she did.
“No, we don’t. So what are you going to do, Shayla?” Liv asked, her voice shaky. “Blackmail us, make us do stuff for you to help you win?”
“No. Blackmail is too clichéd. Too messy. I’m just going to show Ellen the footage outright,” Shayla replied, her voice icy cold. “It’s not official show footage, because those cameras weren’t meant to be on, so she won’t see it otherwise. No one would if I didn’t show them.”
“Can we keep it that way? Please?” Liv begged.
Shayla smiled. “Naw. She’s due back in about twenty minutes, right? I’m going straight to her office and waiting. As soon as she sees that little sex tape, you’ll both be off the show for good. Out of my way for good. Then it won’t be hard for me to win. The other couples are mostly morons. I can get them out of my way easily enough.”
Fuck.
Ellen couldn’t easily remove us from the show, because the contracts were laid out so that we could only leave via viewer voting or emergency. But if she saw that footage, she was bound to come up with a way somehow. I was pretty sure I knew how she’d do it, too. She’d cut the money to my family off, and Amelia would have to leave her treatment program. Then she’d get very sick again, and that would be enough to constitute a family emergency, which would get me off the show early. Liv, too, seeing as she was my ‘wife’ on the show.
Shayla really had us over a fucking barrel. Amelia, too. If anything happened to my little sister because of this scheming bitch, I didn’t know what I’d do.
“Don’t show her,” Liv begged. “Please, Shayla! You don’t understand what’s at stake here. Dec’s sister…”
Shayla scoffed, cutting Liv off. “Just try and stop me.”
She grabbed the USB and briskly stepped out of our room as Liv and I simply stood there staring at each other in shock over Shayla’s betrayal. I finally glanced at the clock, my body flooding with panic. “We’ve got fifteen minutes till your mom’s plane lands. Maybe another five for her to disembark with her stuff and get upstairs to her office.”
“So pretty much twenty minutes till we’re both screwed,” Liv said miserably.
I shook my head. “No, we’re gonna figure this out.”
“How?”
I gritted my teeth. “Go after her. Try and stall her as long as you can,” I said. “I think I have an idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dec
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door in front of me. If there was one person I’d met on this show so far who could possibly help Liv and me in our fucked up situation, it was the person who stayed beyond these particular walls.
The door opened, and I looked down at the short skinny man in glasses who’d answered. Mark, I think his name was. “Hello, Declan,” he said, always the politest man in the room. “How can I help you?”
“I was wondering if I could speak to your wife. She here?”
Mark nodded, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “Isobel!” he called out, turning his head. “Someone’s here to see you.”
Isobel appeared from the bathroom, walking in long strides toward me. “Dec,” she said. “Nice to see you, man.”
“I’ll leave you two to chat,” Mark said before bowing his head in a nod at me. Isobel kissed him on the cheek, and then she led me out onto the balcony to give us some private time.
“You two are so cute,” I said with a wry smile as she lit up a Marlboro. “Never thought someone like him would make it this far in the competition. Apparently viewers usually tend to prefer the tanned, muscular guys.”
“Well, I didn’t think so, either. I only came on the show for the money, to be perfectly honest, but…” Isobel chewed her lower lip for a second, a little blush creeping into her cheeks. “Mark was looking for more, and he and I are actually well-suited. It’s worked out.”
I grinned despite my mood. “You really like him, and vice versa. Trust me, it shows. That’s why the viewers have kept you guys around and not voted you out. You’re popular as hell. Sort of a wild card couple.”
Isobel blew out a puff of smoke, then smiled. “Guess so. Anyhow, what did you want to talk about?”
“I need your help. If you can even do it. I dunno. I’m in a pretty tight spot at the moment. I know you have no real reason to help me, but I figured it was worth a shot to ask.”
“What happened?” Isobel’s eyebrows puckered.
I didn’t answer her question just yet. “I’ve seen the way you operate, Isobel. You mostly keep to yourself, and you don’t care what anyone else thinks about you. You’re quiet, except when someone gets in your way. Most of all, you observe. You see everything, and you store it all up here, don’t you?” I tapped on my forehead.
Isobel arched a brow and smiled. “I sure do.”
“I first realized when you caught me with Andrew that night. You saw. You could’ve had me thrown off the show, but you didn’t.”
She shrugged. “Firstly, I didn’t need to. And secondly, that prick Andrew deserved what he got. He’s such an asshole. I can’t believe he’s still on the show.”
“My point is, you have dirt on pretty much everyone on this show, right? In case you ever need to use it to eliminate the competition when things start to heat up. Like you said before…you came here to win. You’ve never felt the need to befriend anyone.”
She laughed and nodded. “Yep. That’s right. I keep everything to myself unless I feel like it’s necessary to bring up. I was thinking about using some of the shit I’ve discovered about people to get ahead, but…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked through the French doors at Mark. “I guess once I met Mark and actually got to know him, I decided to play the game properly. Actually try to make things work with him and win as a couple. We’ve grown really close, and I’ve gotta say, we’ll be sticking with each other after the show even if we don’t win.”
“Glad to hear it. You two are adorable.”
They really were. Isobel was tall, dark and domineering compared with Mark’s nerdy, mild-mannered demeanor, but they somehow melded perfectly together instead of clashing. Mark was kind and supportive, Isobel strong and smart. A great combination, and viewers had loved it so far. It was different from the usual winning combination of a strong, handsome guy with a petite blue-eyed blonde, and sometimes, different was good.
“So are you actually gonna tell me what sort of tight spot you’re in?” Isobel asked.
She drew on her cigarette again, and I sighed and sat down. “Let’s just say a certain someone is using nasty tactics to try and get me thrown off this show. Me and Liv.”
Isobel rolled her eyes. “Let me guess. Sweet Southern Shayla?”
I raised my brows. “How did you know?”
“Like you just said, I observe everything. Shayla is a grade-A cunt. I tried to warn Liv about her, you know, because Liv’s always seemed like a sweet girl and I’ve been a bit of an impatient bitch to her in the past. It was a couple of weeks back when I saw her and Shayla taking a boat out for
a joyride.”
I sighed. “Unfortunately, she either didn’t hear you or didn’t listen. She thought Shayla was her friend, and now Shayla has used that against us to try and get rid of us. She thinks we’re her biggest competition.”
“Well, you two are. Viewers love you guys. Shayla’s gotta hate that.”
“They love you and Mark, too. So you’ll be next in her firing line.”
She nodded. “True.”
“So I guess the reason I came here was to ask if you knew of anything that could help. If you even want to help.”
“You mean you came to see if I had any scandalous shit on Shayla that could be used against her to stop her Cunt Crusade?”
I nodded. “Pretty much. So if you do have anything on her, what do you have?”
Isobel smiled widely and raised her eyebrows. “Oh, wouldn’t you like to know…”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Olivia
“Shayla! Wait!”
I caught up to Shayla in the hall, and she turned to me with a condescending smile. “Don’t bother, Liv. I’m going to Ellen whether you like it or not. Mommy dearest is gonna love this tape.”
I grabbed her arm. “You don’t get it. Please, let me explain.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Explain what?”
“Dec and me…it’s not what you think. I know it looks like I’m having a secret affair with my mom’s husband, but it’s complicated.”
“Complicated? Honey, I know, and I don’t care. I want to win this thing, and this…” She held up the flash drive. “This is gonna help me do that. I couldn’t give a fuck about your little love story.”
“Shayla, please! I get why you’re mad. Dec and I weren’t supposed to be on this show. We weren’t real contestants like you; we didn’t have to try to get on the show like you did. So I get it. You have a right to be pissed at that. But my mom can’t see that tape! It’s not just our relationship with her that’s at stake.”
Shayla smiled. “Yes, I know. Dec’s little sister needs all the money Dec will get from being married to Ellen, right? Or something like that.”
I took a step back, ruffled. “You know about Amelia?”
Shayla narrowed her eyes. “I know pretty much everything about everyone. I’ve done my research.”
“How?” I asked. “I don’t understand how you can possibly know so much!”
She gave me a smug smile. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t care about the ridiculous little details of Dec’s marriage of convenience to Ellen, or whatever. All I care about is winning that prize. I thought I made that clear. And I know Ellen won’t be happy about her own daughter screwing her husband, fake or not.”
Tears filled my eyes, and I sniffed, trying to hold it all back. “How can you do this to people, Shayla? You’re not just helping yourself get ahead. You’re ruining lives. I just don’t understand. You’ve acted like such a good friend. Given me real advice. Good advice. And now you turn around and do this?”
She sneered. “Part of convincing people to trust you involves acting like a decent person, even if it’s not true. So I decided to be a gosh-darn sweet little thing from Alabama. Everyone automatically trusts that.”
My eyes widened. Her Southern accent was suddenly gone. “You…”
“Faked it?” She laughed. “Yes, sugar. People trust the dumb, innocent blonde Southern belle way more than they trust a doctoral candidate from Harvard. But I wanted that money to pay off all my student loans, so I did what had to be done.”
She turned around and made to walk off again. I called out. “Wait! If it’s money you need, I can give you money. I have a bit of a nest egg left over from my grandparents. We can figure something out with that. Please, just don’t give my mom that tape!”
Shayla turned back to me. “Hm…I guess it’s not just about the money,” she said airily. “It’s also about winning. I want to win.”
Then she walked away again, heading for the stairwell. I followed her, still hoping and praying that there was a chance I could get her to change her mind. But deep down, I knew I didn’t really have a shot. Unless Dec could pull something off in the next few seconds, we were screwed. Mom would see the tape and likely get angry enough to cut his family off.
On the third floor, I could see her up ahead, unlocking her office door. She was carrying William’s travel cage, and two crew members were helping her with her bags.
“Ellen!” Shayla called out.
Mom turned her head. “Yes?”
“We need to talk.”
We drew closer. William squawked, and Mom flashed me a puzzled look, then turned her attention back to Shayla. “Can it wait? I literally just got off a plane. I’d like a little—”
“It can’t wait. I need to tell you this right now,” Shayla said.
I twisted my hands helplessly, not saying a word. There was nothing I could do except stand by and watch the impending explosion. Whatever Dec was up to, wherever he was…he was too late to solve this.
For once, he couldn’t save me.
Mom sighed. “Fine,” she said, opening her door and ushering us all in. One of the two staff members put William in his bigger cage on the far side of the office, and the other brought Mom’s bags in. As they did that, Mom sat down behind her desk and raised her brows. “So, Shayla, you have something to tell me?” she said.
“Oh, yes, ma’am.” Shayla affected her fake Southern lilt again. “Yes, I do...”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dec
I burst into Ellen’s office, Isobel right behind me. Ellen was sitting behind her desk with a confused expression on her face, and a distraught-looking Liv was standing next to Shayla, who looked like the fucking Cheshire Cat.
“Now you two are here as well?” Ellen said with an exasperated glance in our direction. “What is this circus?”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. We’d obviously arrived in the nick of time, and Shayla hadn’t had a chance to show her the tape and spill the beans just yet.
“I don’t mind an audience,” Shayla said smugly. “The more people who see this, the better.”
“That’s right,” I said with a confident smile. “Ellen, Shayla has come here today to admit something to you.”
“I know. I’m still waiting to hear what it is,” Ellen said, looking annoyed.
Shayla actually had the brains to look worried all of a sudden. Before she could say anything, I kept going. “She’s probably a bit too nervous to tell you the full story, and that’s why we thought Liv, Isobel and I should be here. She needs our support in coming clean.”
Ellen frowned. “Coming clean about what?”
Shayla’s blue eyes were wide now.
“Ben, one of your junior producers,” Isobel said, picking up where I left off. “He and Shayla have been sleeping together. I guess they cut some sort of deal at the start of the show—she sleeps with him, and he helps her stay on the show. I think he’s been sharing all sorts of crew-only knowledge with her for weeks, including secret footage and every intimate little detail of the contestant’s lives outside the show. Even the other crew members. Maybe even you, Ellen.”
Shayla looked ill, and Ellen arched a brow. “Oh, really?”
I nodded. “Isobel saw the two of them together one day when they thought they were alone. She thought they were just sleeping together, so whatever. Not a big deal. I’m sure crew members hook up with contestants all the time, even though they aren’t supposed to. But when I told Isobel some of the things I know about Shayla…well, we realized it was something deeper. Ben must’ve been telling her everything he knew about everyone, in order to help her win. Even gave her access to keys and cameras and all sorts of other things she could use to win. Isn’t that right, Shayla?”
I knew there had to be a way that Shayla got that lewd footage, and there had to be a way she knew Liv and I weren’t originally real contestants. There had to be a way she knew everything. She had a source somewhere, and once Isobel told me
she knew Shayla was cheating on her ‘husband’ Paul with a junior producer, I realized exactly who that source was. She was getting all her information and secret footage from that junior producer—Ben—and using it to get ahead on the show and sneakily eliminate contestants she saw as threats.
Shayla looked dumbfounded. “I…”
“Go on, Shayla,” I said with an encouraging smile. “We’re all here to support you. I know the guilt’s been eating you up. It’s so brave and noble how you finally decided to get it all off your chest.”
“I didn’t. I—”
“Shayla, is this all true? Should I call Ben in here too?” Ellen said sharply.
Tears sprang to Shayla’s eyes. She knew she was caught. “It’s not what you think. This isn’t why I came here today.”
“So you aren’t sleeping with one of my producers in order to get ahead on the show?”
Shayla was completely and utterly speechless, which told us all we needed to know. Ellen got up from her chair, her eyes narrowed. “Well, well. Bobby!” She clicked her fingers, and one of the staff members in the room stood to attention. “Go and find Ben. Tell him he’s fired. And as for you, young Shayla. What are we going to do with you?”
She circled Shayla like a predatory bird, and I caught Liv’s eye. She was pale, but I could see the relief in her expression all the same. ‘Thank you’, she mouthed. I nodded.
“I think I know what needs to be done,” Ellen finally said. “I want to avoid all this bullshit, and Shayla, I’m sure you want to avoid the humiliation that will fall on you when everyone finds out what you and Ben have been up to. I assume that’s why you chose to come clean today? Feeling guilty knowing you were about to be caught, and hoping for the easiest way out?”
“No, I—”
Ellen went on, ignoring her. “We have a lot of fans. Millions. Imagine the media furor if it comes out that a contestant manipulated her way into a producer’s bed in order to get ahead. It would overshadow the show itself. Dramatic, but not exactly the kind of drama we want. So here’s what’s going to happen.”
Daddy's Fake Bride (A Fake Marriage Romance) Page 15
