Lilly's POV
One of the best moments of a journalist's life is their big break, when our names finally get known by the whole world. Every young journalist is always seeking to write a breaking story that will blow up and catch everyone's attention. When that happens, your career is cemented. All that's left is to live up to the name.
I had written a number of stories on the rich but they had never trended or caught a lot of attention. That's why I was the happiest woman in the world when my story on Jake Rylland blew up.
The day had started normally, me being late at work and starting off with my new article immediately. It was an hour later, when my editor came screaming to my office and told me that everyone was talking about my article. The physical copy of the paper had been brought, and the e-copy was doing exceptionally well because everyone was talking about my story on Jake Rylland.
I opened a browser and all the newest articles popping up were about my article. Leah even said she'd been receiving calls from people who wanted me to work for them.
Before that day, I was just a poor girl with a very unfortunate and cursed name given to me by a mother who never wanted a child but was forced to go through with the pregnancy. As soon as she had me, she disappeared to go live her life the way she wanted, single, rich and child-free. No one had seen her since then.
I could have changed the name as I grew up but it was the only thing that I reminded me that I had a mother. It remained my legal name but I went by Lilly.
Getting out of my car, I smoothed by new beautiful shiny green dress, took a deep breath and walked to Leah's house where party music was coming from. Leah had bought me the dress and thrown a party to celebrate my success.
The party was already in full swing when I arrived. All my friends cheered when I made an entrance, making me feel shy and mushy at the same time. Tears welled in my eyes as the most important people in my life enveloped me in a group hug.
My crazy father was out somewhere vacationing with his sixth wife. I had grown up mostly alone and only found family when I started working at The Daily Paper.
After a lot of congratulations, I settled and downed my first drink as I danced. First with Leah, and then Declan who couldn't keep his hands off me. We cut a cake, had a feast and continued to dance. Three hours later, the party was over and I was still sober.
“You can stay over and leave tomorrow,” Leah told me.
I shook my head, glancing at the bodies sprawled over on her couch. I would be much better at my home.
Leah escorted me to my car. “Call me when you get home.”
Getting into my car, I drove off. The city suburbs were still and quiet save from the occasional car passing by.
Soon, my apartment building came into view and I warmed up in anticipation of a good night's sleep after the best day of my life.
After parking my car, I started to walk towards the stairs before something hit me on the head and the world morphed into complete darkness.
When I came to, I was in an empty room with white walls. The only thing in it was the wooden chair I was tied to. When I tried to shake myself free from the restraints, they got tighter.
A minute later, someone walked into the room and stood in front of me. I blinked to make sure I was seeing correctly. It was Jake Rylland.
He smiled before ripping off the duct tape that had sealed my mouth shut.
“What do you want from me?”
“I should be asking you that question? What do you want from me, Hellman? Money, love, sex. Just say the word and you'll get it.”
“I don't want anything from a disgusting man like you,” I said. “All I wanted was to expose your hidden facade to the world. Because you seem to live a calm hidden life, the world has always wanted to know more about you. I gave them what I wanted, that's all.”
“Calling me disgusting in my own house. You're a brave one. But then again, you have been following me around. I don't like that at all.”
“So what? Did you kidnap me so you could threaten me? Didn't think you were this pathetic?”
He chuckled, and took a few steps to where I was. Reaching out, he grabbed my chin forcefully and made me look up. “I can do more than threaten you if you don't do as I say. You're going to refute that whole story you write and say it was a little girl's fantasy with no truth at all. TV stations will be lining up to interview you about me but you will tell them that you've never met me. You just made up everything.”
“Will you let me go if i promise to do that?” I asked.
He nodded then removed his hand from my chin.
“Okay, I will try to write an article saying that maybe I threw in some exegerations to make it sensational. I can't refute the whole story because that would ruin my career. My job is all I have.”
He thought for a moment. “That will do. Rushy.”
The door opened and a burly man walked in. He wore a vest, exposing all the muscles lining up his arms and chest.
I watched as he moved closer and placed a handkerchief over my nose and mouth. I had no choice but to inhale whatever it had been laced with.
The next time I came to, it was night time and I was inside my car.
Lilly.If Jake Rylland thought his threats would faze me, he was completely wrong. The world finally wanted to listen to me, and I was going to give it what it wanted. Moments like that did not last forever so I had to make the most of it before people moved on and focused on something else. I spent the weekend studying all the reactions to my article. I watched video clips, read articles and commentaries, and went through the hilarious memes on social media.By the end of the weekend, I knew that people wanted more gossip about Jake. I was sure that even if I made up something, people would eat it up. But I was not that kind of journalist. I had integrity and would never cook up lies about anyone for money and fame. That was a low I swore not to reach in my life. I wanted to do my work right, only publishing nothing but the truth. Occasionally, I would spice things up a bit but nothing significant.On Sunday evening, I took a big risk and wrote an article that I knew would blow up
Jake."There's a new article about you by Lilith Hellman," my sister said.Furious, I crushed the water bottle in my hands and reached out for that day's papers. I went through the pile until I found The Daily Paper whose headlining story was about me threatening Lilith Hellman. "Will call you later," I told Carrie before hanging up. Quickly, I skimmed the summary and then turned the page to the second one which had the full story. I sighed in relief when I finished and there was no mention of kidnapping. The girl had some sense, it seemed. However, she was still taking too many liberties as if she had no idea I could ruin her life with a snap of my finger. The door opened and Jenny entered. "The staff meeting is about to start, Mr. Rylland. "The meeting was short and precise, just the way I liked them. As soon as it was over, I walked out of the room, immediately turning my thoughts from work stuff and returning into social mode. Lilith was something I needed to get rid of, bef
Lilly's POV“Hello,” I said as I took a step back from the mysterious handsome stranger. His blue eyes held mine, never leaving for a moment. A familiar warmth spread all over my body.“Were you running away from something?” he asked. His voice was deep and smooth.I glanced back at Jake who was clutching a wine glass tightly. His jaw was taut, eyes fixed on us. Smiling, I turned back to the handsome stranger.“Not particularly,” I said. “Sorry for bumping into you.”He shook his head. “It’s alright. I’m glad you did, because I was doomed to spend the evening alone. Would you like to join me? Your friend can join too.”“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”“Good,” he said. “Let’s find a table.”We made our way back into the bar. I could feel Jake’s eyes on me the whole time. He had probably wanted to threaten me, but now I was out of reach. When I turned to glance at him, I saw him walking towards us with a furious and determined look on his face. He was out for war, it seemed. Just as I was abo
“You think that was great?” I asked Johnny before hitting the ball with my golf club. It went right into the hole and I laughed. “Now, that’s what we call great.”Johnny sighed. “It’s been a while since I last played. You know what, I’m tired. Let’s go sit over there.”He pointed to a group of umbrella trees that had created a great and secluded shaded spot. “You boys are lazy.” Mr. Ark, an older friend of ours said while rubbing his bald head. He owned a small bank in George but lived in New York with his children. Golf was one of his favourite hobbies. It was a miracle to come to the golf course and not find it. “What will happen when you’re my age?”“Look, James is here,” Johnny said. James Hacker was heading our way wearing a blue polo shirt, white cap and white pants. Johnny stepped down from the cart and I followed suit “You can play with him.”“I don’t want to talk to him,” I said, and practically dragged Johnny out of there. James was quite a gossip and I knew he was going to
Lilith’s PovI couldn’t stop thinking about Ian. No man had ever done for me what he had done for Leah and I. Although we were technically strangers, he stood up for us. The fight had almost got bloody but security came just in time and separated the two men, all exuding alpha male energy. Later, Ian had dropped us safely, first Leah and then me. Moreover he had not demanded anything in return except my number which I happily gave him.Being a junior reporter meant my life was full of work that the higher ups didn’t want to do. It was always piled on us. While we worked as slaves, doing everything handed to us, the bosses chose only what was convenient for them.Ian lived in my mind rent free the whole of the next day and night. On the day after that, I had an assignment to travel to New Jersey where I had an interview with a producer of a small budget reality show. He was an eccentric man so Leah and I were both going to see him. Sexual harassment and assault was a big problem for u
Ian and I met at The Alternative Ritz, a bar on the outskirts of the city with a daily live band. I was wearing a hot red figure hugging dress and red heels. My hair was styled, and fell in waves on the sides of my shoulders. That was all thanks to Leah who lectured me on putting effort to my appearance for dates. If it was up tom, I would just wear a clean shirt and jeans plus sneakers. Maybe that was I was still single. I literally didn’t try to look sensual or romantic. Only one guy in the office had expressed interest in dating me but then again, there was only a handful of men there. The place was overflowing with estrogenic and progesterone energy which was not a bad thing but it killed all my office romance dreams.“You’re lucky to have survived that mess,” he said. “I have never been in a shooting before but it sounds quite scary to be involve in one. I’m so sorry you had to experience something like that.”“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for being here. I’m glad you called b
When I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar room. Sitting up, I looked around. There was a bed with blue sheets, and a table next to it. My bag was on that table. Grabbing it, I opened and saw all the contents inside. Everything was intact. I sat back and tried to rack my memory.Ian. Where the hell was he? Most importantly, where was I? I pulled out my phone and unlocked it. 10missed calls from Leah. What the hell. I dialled her number immediately. She didn’t answer which made me panic even more. My clothes! They were nowhere to be seen and I was wearing a blue nightdress I had never seen before. My heart was pounding as I tried to remember how I got there. All I could remember was leaving that white building. Shit. How did I become so stupid to trust a man whose surname I didn’t know. I had finally done it, gone crazy and made a mess of my life.It was already ten am and I had no idea where to get clothes. I dialled the phone on the table but no one was answering. What the hell was this
I stabilized a few minutes later. There were pictures of me on a full page, all kinds. Me entering the so called whore house, me kissing two men, dancing with men and women. There was one of me in bed with a man but thankfully I was still wearing my clothes. That was the only saving grace.“What is all this?” I asked. An ache had developed in my head. I could process what I was seeing. This was no doubt the worst thing that had ever happened to me. I thought of my relatives, who were probably glad they kept their distance from me.I ripped the paper into pieces.“That will not solve anything.”Why, why me?I think it’s Jake Rylland,” Leah said. “I don’t know why some random guy would do this to you and hire a reporter to document it.”“That sly bastard. I only reported what was true about him. I should have reported the kidnapping. If I do now, they will say I’m trying to ruin his name because mine is ruined.”“That’s not the worst.”“What could be worse than that?”“I think you might