Page 68 of Nothing But the Truth

Lucy’s blood hit an uncomfortable boiling point, and thankfully she made eye contact with Oliver, bless him, because it stopped her from screaming.

He bugged out his eyes in an I’ve been looking for you glare that was more comforting than accusatory and hurried over.

Lucy turned back to Chase and lowered her voice in the final seconds before Jonathan began speaking. “You betrayed me, Chase. I know sometimes we have to do extreme things to get ahead in this industry, but you’re on the wrong side this time.”

He gave her a solemn look and said nothing.

Oliver arrived and squeezed himself between them, firmly bumping Chase aside with his shoulder and discreetly slipping his hand into Lucy’s.

The show was starting, and everyone knew it would be unpleasant to watch.

“Thank you all for gathering on such short notice,” Jonathan opened.

Lucy swallowed a fiery ball of rage and Oliver scoffed. Joanna lingered at the back of the crowd. Lucy couldn’t catch her eye.

“J&J Public has been a Hollywood institution since its founding by my father more than four decades ago. When he retired and handed over leadership to me, I vowed to run the company with the integrity he himself instilled in me as both an upstanding man and as the head of a respected business.” He paused and looked at his notes.

Oliver’s hand tightened around Lucy’s in anticipation. So far, nothing Jonathan said was blatantly false. The company was a respected institution, and Lucy had met Jonathan Jenkins Sr. on multiple occasions; he was a lovely albeit traditional man. The odds were not in his favor, but Lucy allowed a fleeting moment of hope that Jonathan was positioning himself to admit his fault and take responsibility for his actions. She felt the room holding its breath with her.

“I’m here today to state definitively that the accusations made against me by employees of J&J Public are false.”

The room exhaled. Cameras clicked, and pens scratched. The rage boiling beneath Lucy’s surface found its way into her eyes and sent them awash with silent tears. She began to tremble. Oliver squeezed her hand and muttered expletives to match the ones coming from Monica. Chase stood like a pillar.

“I have never engaged in inappropriate behavior with an employee. I take pride in how I conduct myself, and quite honestly it pains me to see these promising young women influenced by social politics. Annie Ferguson has been my assistant for most of the past year, and Lucy Green is one of the most promising publicists at our firm. I know each of them personally, and I have to assume that the motivation behind these baseless and false accusations derives from the larger movement aimed at discrediting men like myself in positions of power. My colleagues will tell you that I am one to champion women in the workplace. I am a father to a daughter and a loving husband. It may not have been their intention, but the false accusations brought forth by these two women will have harmful consequences beyond just myself.”

“Oh boo hoo, now he’s the victim?” Oliver hissed.

Lucy was too furious to see straight. Any hope she had of Jonathan admitting fault was dashed deader than roadkill. Every word out of his mouth was a lie. On the day she was bound by the truth, Jonathan was blatantly deceiving a room full of people—plus whoever was watching the livestream.

But the lies Lucy told, she realized in that moment, really only harmed herself. Her appearance, her diet, her relationship. She needed to stop, she’d learned that, but she didn’t run around spouting dishonesty that damaged lives. Jonathan lied freely. He could say whatever he wanted, and people would believe him. And if they didn’t believe him, they wouldn’t speak up about it because there would never be consequences if they did.

Just like there would be no consequence now.

Lucy’s efforts with the article—the risk she convinced Annie to take—suddenly felt in vain. For how big of a platform Monica gave her, Jonathan had just called her a liar on live TV. She may have been the strategist behind some of the biggest names in entertainment, but that was exactly where she stayed—behind them. Compared to Jonathan, industry mogul, she was no one. She’d tried to raise her voice, and he silenced it with a single sentence.

A tear spilled over her lid and burned down her cheek. She dashed it away.

“I’m so sorry, Luce,” Oliver whispered.

She felt Chase’s eyes and refused to look at him. She would not give him the satisfaction of her tears.

“I thought it important to gather here today and make a formal statement in an effort to curtail the spread of these allegations as much as possible,” Jonathan said, and then added with a stern gaze at the crowd, “before any other publications irresponsibly spread misinformation without proof.”

“Two women coming forward isn’t proof?” Monica shouted.

Heads turned, and murmurs rippled through the crowd. Jonathan put his hand to his brow as if he were shielding the sun and gazed deep into the room. Many eyes searching for the brave soul who spoke up landed on Lucy, seeing that she was a head taller than Monica.

Jonathan tittered a vile laugh. “Well, I guess we do have some time for a few questions. Where should we start?” He pointed into the crowd.

“I already started!” Monica called, her voice ringing off the vaulted ceiling. “Two women have come out against you, one with allegations dating back years. How do you explain that, if these allegations are false as you claim?”

Nervous tension blanketed the room like a thick quilt. Lucy began to sweat. Jonathan cleared his throat and leaned toward the man in the suit beside him, who whispered in his ear.

“Talk yourself out of this one, asshole,” Oliver muttered with a malice that Lucy felt in her bones. She also felt an unease because she had little doubt that he would in fact talk himself out of it.

“I can only credit that to some kind of collaborative and active imagination. Next question.” He waved a hand and pointed to someone in the front row.

“You’re saying they made it all up?” Monica was a dog with a bone. She would not give up. “What incentive do they have to do that?”

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