Chapter 46

Kali

I run to my front door as the doorbell rings repeatedly.

I check the time on my smart watch, confused as to who it could be, because Wade should still be at his weekly check in with Dustin.

Desperate to make the annoying dinging stop I pull open the door to find Lola in hysterics on my front porch.

"Kali, my story is online." Out of breath, face puffy and red, Lola's cheeks are covered in blotches from crying, which has become her norm since her and Graham split up.

"What is? Graham cheating on you?" I'm so confused.

"No, about Marcus being Wade's father. And me being his secret sister." She lays her hand on her forehead. "Oh my God, Kali, this wasn't supposed to happen."

My mind starts spinning like a tornado.

"How?" I push my fingers into my scalp, my heart stammering in my chest.

"Graham sold my story to a newspaper because I told him I slept with someone the night I caught him cheating on me. I bumped into him last night and we got into an argument. I was upset and told him out of spite to hurt him, and in retaliation, he told a reporter about me being Wade's sister, and how Marcus is Wade's father."

And now the world knows.

"This is all my fault." I pull her into my arms and swaddle her while she soaks my tee shirt in her tears and trembles in my arms.

Squeezing her tight, I close my eyes and try to figure out what to do first. "Lola, breathe." I take my own advice and slip into crisis management mode. "First, we need to call Wade."

Like a premonition, my smart watch begins ringing. "It's Marcus," I announce, hitting the screen to pick up. "Marcus."

"Kali, he knows."

"I know. Lola's just told me it's all over the news."

"It's what?" he roars down the speaker.

"Lola's ex-fiancé sold her story."

"What?" he replies again.

But wait."How did you know he found out?"

"He showed up at my office today when I wasn't expecting to see anyone. Dustin wasn't here for his check in, so I did it. I'm wearing my glasses, not my contacts."

The implication of that statement hits me hard. "Where did he go?" I ask, sounding panicked.

"I don't know."

"I have him on my location tracker," Lola taps the screen on her phone. "He shared it with me, so I know where he is."

"What? Why?"

"In the beginning, Marcus asked me to make sure he wasn't out drinking every night."

I think that was a little over the top micromanaging him that way, but I'm grateful we can locate him. I have to find my man and make sure he's okay. I'm clueless as to how this is going to go.

"He's at Westfield Estate." Lola looks up from her screen.

"Miranda's," we all say at the same time.