Page 108 of Bared Betrayal

“Really? Because I am looking at several articles listing you as Kalliana Pearson.”

“Yes, well, my name has legally been changed to Sawyer,” I say.

“It’s irrelevant,” she says, and I look from the phone to Sebastian, who just shrugs.

“Ashley, what do we need to do?” Sebastian asks.

“Well, the smartest thing we can do is use this to our advantage. We need to hit this hard, turn it around, and make it work for us.”

“What do you propose?” Sebastian starts pacing.

“We need to get a statement out as quickly as possible that shows you knew who she was—because we have to suppress the negative rumors about you not knowing. That will only make you look like an idiot.”

“And we can’t have that,” Elenor chimes in.

“Absolutely,” Ashley states. “We need to make it look like we intended for this news story to be published, not that a lucky journalist stumbled upon it. If we act like it was our decision, make it look like you and Ms. Pearson—”

“Sawyer,” I interrupt.

“Whatever. Basically, we’re going to announce that you’ve chosen to come forward with your identity and story to help other victims of kidnapping and rape. We’ll arrange a press conference before the wedding.”

Elenor smiles approvingly. “That’s a great idea. We’ll get even more attention on the wedding this way.”

What wedding?

I look at Sebastian, but he’s staring straight ahead of him. “My God,” I say, flabbergasted. “You haven’t told her, have you?”

“Tell me what?” Elenor demands.

“Nothing,” Sebastian snaps. “Let’s just deal with one crisis at a time, shall we?”

“Is everything good over there?” Ashley asks, but her tone is sheer sarcasm.

“We’re good,” Sebastian responds. “Go on.”

“Okay. My team is already arranging for Kallie to appear on various talk shows across the country. We’re also in the process of making contact with trauma centers, hospitals, shelters, and rehabilitation centers for teens dealing with similar trauma because we need to get Kallie associated with them. It will reflect great on both your public images.”

“No,” I whisper.

“Also, I found a name of a ghostwriter, the one who wrote that book about this girl who grew up in that religious cult in Southern Africa—”

“Oh, I read that one. It was excellent,” Elenor says. “I picked it up when it first came out. My book club chose it for our true crime month. It was so graphic and detailed. It just put you right in it.”

“I agree. This guy is good,” Ashley continues. “I already talked to his agent, and he says he would love to hear more about it and see if he would be interested. He would need all the police records, of course, and we can arrange for a photographer to take pictures of Kallie in the woods where they were held captive.”

“No!” I leap to my feet. “I am not some fucking circus animal you can parade around for the public to gawk at.”

“Kallie.” Sebastian takes my hand. “Calm down, okay? We’re not doing anything yet. Ashley is merely laying our options out.”

“I am not going along with anything she just proposed. I just want to forget it all and move on.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not an option,” Ashley says through the speaker. “The only way we can forget about all this is if the public does, and that is not happening anytime soon. I can promise you that.”

“I’m not doing it.”

Sebastian stands, placing his hands on my shoulders. “It’s out there now. We can’t take it back. People know, and if we don’t take control of this story, they will make up their own.”

“He’s right,” the agent says. “This is too big. It isn’t going away. We can be reactive or proactive. I prefer being proactive. It puts us in control.”