Page 29 of The Hunt

“I would if I could,” I said bitterly. “But like Julia said, it’s just my word against his in the end. Especially with her being too scared to come forward. So I can’t tell people. He’ll just say I’m crazy.”

“That’s the real reason you haven’t blocked him, right?” she asked. “Just in case he texts you something incriminating?”

“Yes. He’s spent the last few months cycling between sending me furious messages attacking me and sad ones begging me to take him back. Lately it’s mostly been the furious ones.”

“But he’s never actually admitted what he did in the texts?”

“He did, but only sort of,” I said. “At one point while he was sending me all the sad messages, I tried to bait him. I texted him something like: ‘You know that I saw exactly what you did to Julia, and I’m sick of hearing your excuses. Be honest with me about what you did and why you did it, and maybe then I’ll see you again.’This was his reply.”

I fished my phone out of my purse, opened my conversation thread with Jake, and scrolled up until I found his response to my bait message.

J:Babe, it was just a one-time thing. I swear! I’ve never done it before and never will again. You catching me was the wakeup call I needed. I’ll get therapy, I swear. Please give me a chance.

Sloane’s nose wrinkled as she read it. “Too bad this would never hold up in court.”

“Yeah, because he didn’t actually say what he did,” I replied. “So his lawyers could argue that it’s about something else. Like him cheating, for instance.”

“Exactly.”

I gritted my teeth and inhaled through my nose, anger spiking in me all over again. “I just wish I could get him to admit it out loud while I’m recording him. Then I could give that recording to Julia. See if she’s willing to move forward with a case against him.”

Bree nodded. “That would be the best-case scenario.”

I let out a frustrated groan and scrubbed my hand over my face. “Honestly, it kills me that he’s freely walking around when I know what he’s capable of,” I said. “I worry every single day that he’s drugging other women he considers below him on the social ladder. I just go over it in my head again and again. It’s driving me crazy.”

Sloane grimaced. “And there’s nothing you can really do about it. Like you said, you can’t report him to the police unless Julia changes her mind,” she said. She paused and tilted her head. “Are you still in contact with her?”

“Yeah. I text her every few weeks to see how she’s doing.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Is she still working for Jake’s family?”

“Yes.” I sighed. “But she asked for a transfer to a different wing, at least. So she doesn’t have to see him when he’s there.”

“A differentwing?” Bree’s eyes widened. “Wow, they reallyarerich.”

“Yup.” My lips tightened. “Getting on their bad side is a really bad idea.”

“I get that, but you can’t just let Jake run around smearing you like this,” Sloane said, shaking her head. “These days, online rumors don’t just blow over. They can affect your future in so many ways. You can miss out on a ton of opportunities, and you can even get fired if your employer sees a nasty post accusing you of stuff.”

Bree nodded. “You could also get kicked out of Hollingsworth if enough people complain about you. So we really need to do something about that post.”

I shrugged defeatedly. “What can I do? Other than say it’s not true, which hardly anyone will believe anyway.”

“I have an idea.” Sloane lifted her chin, eyes glimmering with intent. “I know I’m only pre-law, but I already know legalese pretty well. Enough to make me sound like a lawyer, anyway. So I’ll write a professional-sounding email to Holler threatening to file a defamation suit if they keep that post up. It’s not even wrong, because what they’re doing is literally defamation. I’ll also get them to post a retraction.”

“You think they’ll do that?”

“They will after I’m through with them. I’ll even ask one of the law professors for help if I need to,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m really sick of these anonymous assholes who go around trying to wreck people’s lives from behind a screen.”

“Thank you so much,” I said, shoulders slumping with relief.

“Don’t thank me. I feel like such a bitch for jumping to conclusions earlier. I’m a shit friend.”

“We both are,” Bree muttered, looking down at the table.

I sighed. “It’s okay. I get it. It’s hard to know what to believe when so many people are saying it.”

“No, we should’ve known better.” Bree jerked her gaze back up to meet mine, guilt etched on her face. “Really… I’m so sorry, Ev.”

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