Page 74

It’s Lilly again. I haven’t seen her since our encounter in the lobby.
“I don’t want to see anyone.”
“I’m not just anyone, Quinn.”
For someone who has built her entire brand onletting things go,Lilly can be quite stubborn sometimes. I let out a defeated sigh and open the door for her.
“You look terrible.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, wiping away a stray tear that has traveled down to my cupid’s bow. “Can I help you with some tea? Coffee?”
“What I mean is you look like you could use some company.” She walks inside, noticing the opened suitcase and clothes sprawled all across the floor. “And some help.”
“Sure, why not,” I mutter, giving up.
My flight is in a few hours, and I can use whatever help I can get.
She kneels on the floor and starts folding the clothes for me—doing a much better job than me. I try to pick up a blouse.
“No, put that back,” she warns. “I don’t want you lifting a finger anymore. You’ve already gone through enough.”
I go to look at my phone for the first time, but find dozens of notifications instead.
It’s the same hate comments. I practically throw it away.
“Hey, no need to take your anger out on the device. It didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It’s done enough,” I admit. “If I’d never come down here, none of this would have happened.”
Lilly looks at me, concerned. “You don’t really mean that.”
“I’ve had more people calling me a whore than I ever anticipated in my life. I’m starting to wonder if they have a point.”
Lilly darts over to my side in an instant, wrapping me into a warm—and what I didn’t realize before this moment—much-needed embrace. I let myself cry into her arms, soiling her shirt, but she doesn’t complain.
“What happened to not letting their words get to you?” She smoothes out her hands against my hair.
“It’s easier said than done. You know, the strangest part is that it’s mostly the same accounts commenting over and over. It’s like they’re in some sort of competition with each other to come up with the most creative ways to hurl insults at me.”
“I guess birds of a feather do flock together.” Lilly hums. “Why don’t you just block them?”
“I’ve tried. They just make new accounts.”
“What a miserable bunch.” Lilly shakes her head. “I’m sorry that your time here had to be ruined like this. You really needed this break after what happened with Liam, and well, it’s just awful that it ended up like this.”
“At least it can’t get any worse.” I sigh, gathering myself enough to finally pull away from her arms. “Thank you for coming here to help me pack. I didn’t realize how badly I needed the help… and the company.”
“I knew you would never ask me yourself.” A small smile forms on her face. “You’re too independent for that.”
I nod. But the truth is, I feel like a shell of the person I was when I first arrived here. Things not working out with Enzo shattered my heart, and the online hate has reduced whatever confidence I had to zero.
I have a long road ahead of me, rebuilding whatever I lost in what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime.
When we finish packing, Lilly makes us some tea, and we sit together for some time.
“Everyone’s still freaking out about the fire, even though they’ve already put it out.”
“Fire?” My eyes widen. “There’s been a fire? Where?”