Page 190 of My Real Love Affair

“Baby girl? That you?” Austin’s voice called from upstairs.

“Yeah,” I called back, my voice higher than normal.

I stuck the envelope under my sweater, leaving the coffee and pastries on the kitchen counter. I walked upstairs with every intention of showing Austin the envelope. The bathroom door was closed.

I dashed across the hall into my office and closed the door. I pulled out the envelope and stared at it.

It was probably nothing. Maybe a neighbor had something for Austin. Maybe it was from his assistant or one of his brothers.

But if that was true, why not text him? Why leave it on my doorstep?

The rational part of my brain told me not to open it. It was addressed to Austin, not me. I should just give it to him and let him deal with whatever it was.

But was it actually addressed to him or was it like the files that were sent to me? Another part of me needed to know what this was.

I walked to my desk and carefully opened the envelope. Inside was a thick stack of papers. I pulled them out with shaking hands and started to read.

The first page looked like some kind of contract. I scanned it quickly, my heart sinking as certain phrases jumped out at me. It was an NDA and a contract about public appearances and whatnot.

I flipped to the next page. Text message screenshots. Between Cash Bancroft and someone named Summer Auburn. They were discussing Austin, his “situation,” and the need for “damage control.” My stomach started to churn.

More pages. Photos of Austin with a stunning, slender woman I recognized from that first night at Sophie’s wedding.Summer. The woman who’d been wrapped around his arm before he’d pulled me in and kissed me instead.

The woman he wanted to escape.

My hands were shaking so badly now I could barely hold the papers. I kept flipping. It was the proof of the arrangement his brother had set up. There was a handwritten letter addressed to me.

Dear Melody,

By now you’ve seen the evidence.

The Bancroft family approached me to “date” Austin after his voice memo went viral. They needed damage control, and I needed money. It seemed simple. Show up to a few events, keep him out of trouble, smile for the cameras. Cash Bancroft himself arranged everything. I signed contracts, NDAs, did exactly what they asked.

And then Austin saw you at that wedding. Suddenly I was out. No warning, no explanation, just dismissed. They paid me what they owed per the contract but nothing more. I was used and discarded the moment I wasn’t convenient anymore.

The Bancrofts are experts at using people to protect their image. They did it to me. Melody, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but they’re doing it to you too.

Your silly scandal made you vulnerable and you thought you got a lifeline. You were the perfect target, someone who could make Austin look like a hero, someone with enough of a platform to make the relationship believable, but desperate enough not to ask too many questions.

You might think what you have with him is real, but to the Bancrofts, you’re just another problem solved with money and manipulation.

I’m going to sue them for taking advantage of me. For the emotional distress, for the breach of good faith, for everything.They think they can buy and discard people without consequences. I’m going to prove them wrong.

You can do the same. We can do it together. Together, we’d be powerful. Two women they tried to use, standing up and fighting back.

Think about it. And when you’re ready to stop being used, call me.

Summer

A phone number was scrawled at the bottom. I read the letter twice, then a third time. My heart was pounding so hard I felt dizzy. My mind raced through every moment with Austin, reframing everything through this new, horrible lens.

The wedding. Had he really just been improvising when he kissed me? Or had it been calculated? Ditch Summer, grab the plus-size influencer with the scandal, kill two birds with one stone?

The fake-dating arrangement he’d proposed. He’d made it sound like it benefited us both, but what if it had all been orchestrated from the start? Was he playing the long game? And if so, to what end?

I couldn’t confront him. Not yet. Not until I knew more. Not until I understood whether Summer was telling the truth or if this was some kind of manipulation on her part.

Because there was a possibility here that I couldn’t ignore. What if Summer was full of shit? What if she was bitter about being dismissed and wanted revenge? What if this was all fabricated to drive a wedge between me and Austin?