Page 77 of Isabelle and the Beast

Jen looks down at her phone. “She’s calling me back.” She answers the phone and puts it on speaker. “Hi, Lily. I’m here with Isabelle.”

“Oh, hi. Hey, Isabelle.”

“Hey, Lily,” I say gently.

“Thanks for calling me back,” Jen says. “So, I’m not sure if you’d be interested in helping out, but I think it would really help Adam’s case.”

“I just told Jen about the contract,” I say. “She didn’t know that you weren’t legally allowed to say anything before she called.”

Lily is quiet. “I never signed the contract.”

It takes a minute for her words to sink in. “Wait…what?”

“I never signed.” Her words start rushing out. “The negotiations were rushed, and I was never included in the conversation. I was sent a copy after both Tristan and Adam signed, and there wasn’t even a line for my signature. But I wasn’t planning on saying anything anyway, so it’s not like it mattered.”

“And you still don’t have to,” I say. Jen narrows her eyes atme, but I continue. “It would cause a huge tidal wave, and I don’t want to pressure you into anything you’re not comfortable with.”

Jen sighs. “Agreed. It’s your decision entirely.”

Lily is silent for a long time, and I wonder if she hung up. “I’ll think about it,” she finally says.

“Thank you for even considering it,” I say. “Hopefully the few women we have who agreed to speak up will be enough.”

“I hope so,” Lily says. “It’s good to hear from you, Isabelle.”

“You, too. I’ll have to come meet you in person one of these days.”

“Hopefully with Adam,” she responds, a teasing lilt to her voice.

I chuckle. “Yeah, I hope so, too.”

The next day,Jen and I sit in front of her laptop at the kitchen table, anxiously awaiting the article. Allegra said it would be published this afternoon. I’ve been a ball of nerves all morning, hoping that they write something that makes Tristan seem like the pig he is.

Robby, Jen’s boyfriend, came over too. He’s sitting on the couch playing video games, oblivious to our nerves. Jen explained the situation to him, and while he’s sympathetic, I think he prefers his fictional world to our real one.

I refresh the website again. “It’s up!”

At the top of the page is an article with the title:

ALLEGATIONS AGAINST TRISTAN JACKSON SURFACE FROM MULTIPLE WOMEN.

I click the article, and Jen and I lean forward to read. The article is pretty straightforward, reporting that Tristan Jackson has been keeping multiple girlfriends at the same time,misleading them into falling for him and then dumping them when he’s achieved whatever goal he had in mind.

By the end, it’s made clear that he didn’t do anything illegal, just…a little sketchy.

I turn to Jen. “Do you think this is enough?”

She winces and shrugs a shoulder. “I’m not sure.”

Robby walks by us, sipping on an iced tea. His game must be over. “What’s going on?”

“The article just got published,” Jen replies.

Robby stands over her shoulder, scanning the article. “Honestly, I don’t know if this will make him actually look BAD.”

“What do you mean?” I reply.

“There have been a few stories exposing guys who act like this. Dating multiple women at the same time, manipulating them into thinking they’re ‘the one,’ and if anything, it just makes him more desirable. Guys admire their skills, and girls want to be their next conquest.”

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