Page 24 of Now Their Starlet

That bit of information feels like we just struck an iceberg. This situation runs so much deeper than we thought.

“When Andi was in the hospital after Ezra assaulted her, she told us that if she couldn’t convince Beck to be in a fake relationship with her, she’d be forced back into her relationship with Ezra,” I say, my voice low.

“I was horrified to read the headlines of what happened,” Edison murmurs. “I was upset on Andi’s behalf, but if I’m being completely honest, I wasn’t terribly surprised. Jonathan used to hit Gina, too.”

“And she still continued to have an affair with him?” I bite out with a shake of my head. “I don’t know why I’m even asking, Gina’s shown she’s more than willing to make decisions that don’t make sense.”

“They made sense to her at the time,” Edison says with a sigh. “She has a way of twisting reality, or at the very least her perception of it, to support whatever agenda she has in mind.”

“Isn’t Jonathan Fletcher bonded, too?” Everett says, his brows drawn down. “How are all of these bonded people having affairs left and right?”

“Yeah, what the hell do they put in the water in this city?” Cameron huffs.

The connection between Jonathan Fletcher and Gina seems to have all our minds spinning.

“This information sheds a new light on the whole pushing Andi to be in a relationship with Ezra situation,” Everett murmurs. “I think there’s no denying that Gina is trying to live vicariously through Andi, which means if she can’t be bonded to Jonathan Fletcher, she needs the next best thing, which is making sure Andi ends up with his son, even if he’s violent towards her.”

“That would make sense why she’s having Andi’s first public appearance after the conservatorship has gone public be this charity gala,” I add. “It would indicate that Gina’s deferring some of her control to someone else, because if she were acting in her own best interest, not even Andi’s, she wouldn’t choose this sort of event.”

“That’s concerning. That means she’s even less predictable than she already was,” Everett murmurs.

“We need to make sure our plan works,” Cameron adds, his jaw working as he stares at one of the photos Edison has on his desk, one of a younger Andi on his shoulders. “Whatever they’re doing to her can’t be good for her health if she looks like that after a week and a half.”

“I think we can all agree on that,” Edison murmurs, a slight tremble in his hands.

“We’ll continue working on the case proving Gina’s not a fit conservator,” Everett sighs. “From both the legal front and the public perception front.” His gaze cuts to me, and he offers me a steady nod.

“I have some more ideas,” I say, nodding in return. “If Beck can find it in himself to work on a music video, I think that single you two worked on would be a good one. I think we include some messages for the public to decipher. They’ve been blowing up his socials with theories and questions, and it’s only going to get worse after they start running with these photos and videos of tonight’s charity gala. But we should also include some messages for her. Hopefully, it makes its way to her eventually.”

“That’s a good idea,” Everett nods. “The question is whether he’ll be up to it.”

“If he is, you should record some of the video here,” Edison offers. “That should be message enough, one that we’re working together.”

“We could use b-roll footage I got that night we went stargazing, too,” Cameron offers. “I’ll pull the footage and see what we can come up with. I don’t have the same creative eye as Andi does, but we can make something work.”

“I can help as well,” Edison nods.

The three of us blink at Edison’s offer. He’s an award-winning filmmaker, offering to help edit a male omega pop-star’s music video.

“If you’re sure,” Everett says.

“Of course I’m sure. Anything for Andi.”

“Anything for Andi,” I repeat, nodding my head.

Just hold on, Andi. We’re coming for you.

CHAPTER 7

Andi

This event is boring. Terribly so.

If I weren’t as emotionally drained and overstimulated from the terrible torture-like process of getting ready, and the overwhelming experience of getting yelled at from all directions on the red carpet, I’d probably feel bad that I’m not paying attention to the speeches more.

This sort of thing is an important cause. I’m sure they’re doing meaningful work, but I can’t bring myself to care.

Not when I did have to go through everything today.