Chapter 9 - Hailey’s Choice
Hailey chose a crowded coffee shop.
She arrived wearing sunglasses despite the rain.
Sofia was already there with Lily.
“You brought her.”
“I said I would.”
Hailey sat.
“You can’t publish anything I show you.”
Sofia answered first.
“I’m not agreeing to that.”
Hailey looked irritated.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Lily asked me to come.”
Lily leaned forward.
“You can show Melissa Grant instead.”
“No lawyers.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
Lily began to stand.
Hailey grabbed her sleeve.
“Wait.”
Lily looked down at Hailey’s hand.
Hailey released it immediately.
A shadow of the cafeteria crossed both their faces.
“I’m sorry,” Hailey muttered.
“For grabbing me?”
“For—”
She stopped.
“Just sit down.”
Lily did.
Hailey removed her phone.
“My dad uses his iPad for work. It syncs messages.”
Sofia frowned.
“Did you break into it?”
“No. He gave me the passcode years ago so I could watch movies on flights.”
“That matters,” Sofia said.
Hailey rolled her eyes.
“You’re not a lawyer.”
“My mother is.”
“You mention that a lot.”
“It saves time.”
Hailey looked at Lily.
“I saw your mom’s name.”
She opened screenshots.
William and Danner had discussed Rebecca repeatedly.
Some messages were cautious.
Others were not.
Need RM removed from invoice review before quarter close.
Her login can take the correction.
If she raises public issue, remind her who funds scholarship pool.
Then Lily saw something that made her stomach turn.
HC is already hearing about the Morgans at home. Keep girls separated if possible.
Danner had replied:
Hailey won’t be the problem.
William:
She’s useful when she’s angry.
Hailey stared at that sentence.
“I read it twelve times.”
Lily did not know what to say.
Hailey’s voice was smaller than Lily had ever heard it.
“He knew I hated you.”
“You chose what you did.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t kick that table because he told you to.”
“I know.”
“You called my mother a thief online.”
“I know.”
Hailey’s jaw trembled.
“So stop saying it like I don’t know!”
Several people turned.
Hailey lowered her voice.
“My father told me your mother was trying to steal from him. He said your family had been obsessed with his company for years.”
“Because my dad noticed missing food.”
“He said your father tried to blackmail him too.”
Lily stared.
“Did you believe that?”
“Yes.”
The answer was painful because it was immediate.
“Why?”
Hailey looked toward the window.
“Because he’s my father.”
For the first time, Lily understood that privilege did not make betrayal painless.
It only changed the furniture around it.
Sofia said, “These screenshots need to go to investigators.”
Hailey stiffened.
“No.”
“Then they’re useless.”
“They could destroy my family.”
Lily stared at her.
“You helped destroy mine.”
Hailey flinched.
Lily continued.
“My mother is suspended. Someone forged her signature. Your father threatened my scholarship.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You know now.”
Hailey looked at the screenshots.
“My mother will lose everything.”
Lily had never heard much about Elise Carter.
She appeared at charity galas, elegant and distant, and spent much of the year managing the Carter Foundation.
“What does she know?” Lily asked.
“Nothing.”
“You sure?”
Hailey did not answer.
That was an answer too.
Sofia closed her notebook.
“You don’t have to decide this second. But if you delete evidence, that becomes a choice.”
Hailey’s eyes narrowed.
“You think you’re better than me?”
“No.”
Sofia stood.
“I think choices count most after you know what they mean.”
She walked to another table.
Hailey looked at Lily.
“I really did hate you.”
“I noticed.”
“Because you never acted impressed.”
Lily almost smiled.
“That was it?”
“It made me crazy.”
“Why?”
Hailey looked embarrassed.
“Everyone else wanted something.”
“And you thought I didn’t?”
“You looked at me like I was just…some girl.”
“You are some girl.”
Hailey let out a broken laugh.
Then she covered her mouth.
For one second they were simply two sixteen-year-olds sitting in a coffee shop.
Then Hailey’s phone rang.
DAD
She rejected it.
It rang again.
She rejected it again.
A message arrived.
Hailey’s face went white.
She turned the screen toward Lily.
I know where you are. Come home now.
Underneath was a photograph.
Taken through the coffee shop window.
It showed Hailey sitting across from Lily.
May you like
Someone had been watching them.
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