“I hope you’re right,” I say. “Because I just watched one good offer walk away.”

He nods and then sends me a wink. “Don’t worry. You’ll be swimming in money when we get you to Vegas. See you guys soon.”

Shaking my hand and then Ms. Prissy’s, he leaves after that and I take in a lungful of air. Biting into my lip, I replay everything that just happened.

“Did I do that right?” I ask, looking up at Ms. Prissy.

She nods. “I think you handled that beautifully.”

“What if the Vegas deal sucks?”

“Then you say no, and you wait for the next deal. You’ll be okay.”

Nodding, I look away as my heart pounds against my chest like a drum. “Can I do this in two weeks, put together a whole show?” I ask, my stomach churning with fear. I’ve always disliked that fear. It has such a power to take you down, and I hate that. I want to be strong, confident in my decision, but that just happened so quickly. I turned down two offers, and now I’m putting all my eggs in one basket. Is it the right choice? I want to say yes, that I feel good about it, but I can’t. I’m nervous as hell. Not only is this going to skyrocket my career, but I’ll also be living my dreams.

“Yes, you can. I believe in you,” she answers, and I let out another breath.

She’s right and I’m going to rock the hell out of that show. With a grin on my face, I stand up. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, darling,” she says, hugging me tightly before I leave the room. Heading to my station, I decide to leave my stuff there since I’m obviously not done here. Looking around the room, I see that it is empty except for Ben leaning against the door. I’m pretty sure that Mr. Sinclair is gone, so I sit ready to take my contacts and wig off, but just as I go to do that, I hear Ellen say, “Sweetie, come meet my best friend, Claire!”

Best friend in the least, I think, but when I turn to see who she’s talking to, I’m cold again. My heart starts to race, my body feels rigid and almost not like mine as my eyes go wide and I’m suddenly fighting for my next breath.

“Claire, I wanted to introduce you to my boyfriend, Marky.”

Mr. Sinclair’s eyes meet mine, and his head cocks to the side as if he is realizing who I am. I don’t say anything; all I can do is look at him with nothing but horror and disgust on my face. Jude’s dad is cheating on his mom with Ellen? A girl who is younger than his daughter? I disliked this man before. Now I absolutely hate him.

“Hello? Earth to Claire!” Ellen sings, and I look at her. A part of my heart breaks for her. She may be an idiot, but I know she would never sleep with a married man. She came from a broken home and told me before that she would never be a home-wrecker; now Mr. Sinclair has made her one.

Another reason to hate this man to the fiery depths of hell.

“Hey,” I blurt out, my heart beating so fast as my chest burns with nausea.

I have to call Jude; I have to tell him.

He’s going to flip.

“Guess what? He just offered me this amazing deal in New York! I’m going to run a Ms. Prissy’s if she allows me to!” Ellen says, but I can’t even listen to her. My heart is breaking for Jude, his family, and the devastation this is going to cause. As much as I don’t want to be the one to tell them, I know I have to. No one deserves to be cheated on, and I refuse to allow someone I care about to go on not knowing that her husband is a complete snake.

“Wonderful,” I mutter and then very slowly, I remove my wig and pull out my braid, letting my red hair fall down my shoulders.

When I meet his gaze again, his eyes are narrowed with recognition and he says, “Ellen, sweetheart, can you go on out to my car and get my briefcase? Maybe we can catch Prissy real quick.”

“Sure, baby,” she says and then looks at me. “Hey, keep my man entertained for a second, but not in like a slutty way. That’s not what I mean. You have a boyfriend. What am I saying?” she says in her ditzy way and then she’s walking away, her hair bouncing with each step she takes.

Looking back at Mr. Sinclair, I growl, “You are the lowest piece of shit I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“You listen to me, you little bitch,” he snaps, taking a step toward me. “You keep your mouth shut or–”

“Or what? You can’t do anything to me, and if you try, Ben will stop you,” I say, nodding my head toward Ben. He comes off the wall, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. When Mr. Sinclair looks back at me, his face is red with anger.

“I won’t let you ruin my family.”

“You did that yourself.”

He pauses, breathing heavily, and everything inside me tells me to run, but very slowly I lay my wig down and then pull my hair up in a messy bun, acting as if his presence doesn’t bother me a bit.

“What do you want?” he then asks. “Money? I’ll give you thousands. I’ll give you the club, the clothing budget, car, house, anything. Just keep your mouth shut.”

“I’d rather have nothing than keep something like this from the people I care for. How dare you hurt someone like Mrs. Sinclair? You are a horrible, sad man, and I’m sorry, but no amount of money is going to keep me from opening my mouth. I suggest you be honest before I do it for you.”

I can see the desperation in his eyes and I don’t understand it. Shaking my head, I ask, “Why? Why risk what you have?”

“What I have? I have nothing but a fucking burden on my hands. I have a wife who does nothing for me. Kids who are more a hassle than anything else and a granddaughter who drives me fucking nuts. Wanna know why I do it? I hate my life, I hate the people I’m supposed to love, I’m bored, I want out, and Ellen is my way out.”

“Then leave, you disgusting rat,” I say, shaking my head. “Stop putting everyone through hell.”

“You are nothing but a stupid little girl. You don’t know anything about this. So shut up and keep your mouth shut. I’ll take care of it on my own time,” he sneers, his eyes flashing with anger along with pure anguish.

“No way,” I say, reaching for my jacket. “I won’t let you lie to them any more than you have.”

I go to pass him but he takes ahold of my arm and pleads, “I’ll give you half a million.”

I don’t have time to answer him. Ben shoots by me faster than lightning and removes Mr. Sinclair’s hand from my arm. Looking back at him, I slowly shake my head. Before I would have taken the money and I wouldn’t have cared about anything else. That was before I found love, before I realized that my family and my boyfriend are worth more than anything in this world. Before when I was completely hollow and nothing but a scared girl with no options but to end up like her mother. I’m not that girl anymore. I have my dreams at my fingertips, a family who would die for me, and a man who would give me the world if I asked for it.