Page 1 of Wynns of Change (Wynn Harbor Inn #3)

“…as if he didn’t know how this would affect you.” Jillian McElroy rolled her eyes, tightly gripping the back of the chair.

Harlow, in full actress mode, lowered her head, her shoulders sagging. “Alex no longer loves me. I know the truth.” Her eyes filled with tears, genuine tears forming from years of practice. All she had to do was think about something sad, in this case her mother’s death, and the tears flowed.

“You’re too ga-good for him.” Jillian flubbed her line, and not for the first time.

To be blunt, the woman, Harlow’s soon-to-be-ex-husband’s assistant and fling, had zero acting skills.

Maybe she wasn’t even a fling anymore. Robert had probably elevated her to the next level, just below the “public appearance girlfriend” level. But he would need to wait until the papers were filed and the press release ready to go to parade Jillian around for all the world to see.

She could almost read the headlines now: Megastar Harlow Wynn and husband/manager Robert Barbetz file for divorce. The tabloids would have a field day with it. She wondered if he realized how bad it would look…the fact he’d all but abandoned Harlow not long after her automobile accident.

Surely, Robert had read the news stories, hinting about how he was seen everywhere except with his wife while she struggled to recover from her car crash. Or maybe he didn’t care. Sometimes bad press was equally as effective as good press.

She could feel Robert, who was standing on the sidelines watching his wife and girlfriend face each other, staring, or maybe glaring, at her.

During her long weeks of recovery, Harlow had taken a good, hard look at her life. She didn’t like what she saw.

Her marriage was a sham and had been since almost the beginning. She’d been too busy building her career these past few years, allowing Robert to dictate her every move, keeping her distracted and not paying attention to what was going on.

At first, she felt sad and depressed. Harlow hadn’t married, thinking someday she and Robert would go their separate ways. She took those solemn vows as a lifetime commitment. He had made them with “until-the-next-big-thing-comes-along” in mind.

“Cut! Cut!” Steven, the director, made a chopping motion with his hands. “You did it again.”

It was Jillian’s turn to flip on the waterworks. “I can’t help it. I’m nervous.”

“Look. Clearly, you need professional training.” Steven’s tone softened.

“You have only a handful of lines. There’s no way you can make it to the next level at this rate without some acting classes.

Maybe Harlow can give you a few pointers about how to teach your brain to retain the lines without flubbing them. ”

It took every ounce of willpower for Harlow to bite back a snarky reply. There was no way on earth she was going to train a woman who was likely gunning for her roles down the road. And if Robert had his way, he would do it PDQ, as in…as soon as the ink dried on the divorce papers.

She had no doubt her husband’s plan was out with the old—Harlow—and in with the new, voluptuous and incredibly young Jillian McElroy.

Harlow offered them both a tight smile. “I’m sure Robert will have his own ideas about Jillian’s training.” In more ways than one, she silently added.

Steven strode over to where Robert stood watching and lowered his voice. He waved his arms in their direction. Judging by the look on her husband’s face, Harlow was certain it wasn’t a pleasant exchange.

Finally, Robert crooked his finger, signaling Jillian to step off the movie set. The trio engaged in a brief conversation before walking off. Steven returned to the stage. “I’m sorry, Harlow. This won’t work. I’m replacing Jillian with Anorah.”

“Fine by me.” With Jillian gone and Anorah, one of her co-stars filling in, the scene went smoothly without a single retake.

Out of the corner of her eye, Harlow glimpsed Robert standing off to the side, a brooding scowl etched on his face. She knew him well enough to know he was furious. His barely-out-of-her-teens protégé would have to score her first legitimate acting gig somewhere else.

No doubt, Robert would blame Harlow for Jillian getting booted from the set. Somehow, it would be all her fault.

*****

“And that’s a wrap, at least for you, Harlow.”

The camera crew and actors broke out into a spontaneous round of applause.

Harlow Wynn had pulled off what she thought would be the impossible—remaining on the set of A City of Glass despite her recent injuries.

She excused herself to freshen up in the restroom, down a long hall and in the back of the building.

The large warehouse, where the final scene was being filmed, creeped her out, but then it was supposed to be creepy, when everything righted in her “make believe” A City of Glass world.

She smoothed her hair and leaned in to check her makeup in the mirror. It was starting to itch, which meant she would have to scrape off the caked-on goop soon or risk breaking out in hives.

Harlow could only tolerate a certain brand of makeup and cosmetics, being highly allergic to most others, including some very expensive skincare products. Despite the high-end brand touted as organic, free of chemicals and preservatives, she could feel her pores clogging.

“There you are.” Harlow’s scalp tingled. That voice. She would recognize it anywhere.

She slowly turned to face Daniel Orlane, the casting director, a man who had attacked her right after she inked A City of Glass contract and tore her shirt. Thank God a custodian had showed up. If not, Harlow shuddered to think about what would have happened.

She had done an excellent job of avoiding Orlane while filming in Vancouver, thanks to her bodyguard and friend, Vic Stern.

He tried cornering her multiple times. Conveniently when she was alone.

After one late night of filming, he showed up drunk at her motorhome and pounded on the door, calling her name and demanding she open it. She ignored him. Finally, he left.

Harlow suspected he’d been keeping close tabs on her, waiting for Vic to leave on his break. And now…now that the filming had ended and her bodyguard was gone, he’d succeeded.

“What do you want?” she bluntly asked.

Orlane took a menacing step toward her. “You know what I want. You owe me for casting you in this movie.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Harlow calmly replied. She’d known this moment would come. Orlane wasn’t going to give up until he got what he wanted.

“Yes, you do.” His jaw tightened. “You know the drill. It’s my turn.”

Harlow could feel her anger build. She didn’t owe the Daniel Orlanes of the world a single thing. Not money. Not her body. She had worked hard to get to where she was. “If you take one step closer, you’ll regret it.”

“Like this?” Orlane took another step, now within striking distance. So close she could smell his cigarette breath. It made her stomach churn.

He caressed the back of her neck. Harlow’s skin crawled and she wanted to vomit.

Orlane’s unwanted touch was the final straw. Harlow instinctively jerked back. She thrust her knee between his legs. Not a light warning tap, but a knee jerk using every ounce of strength she had in her.

“Agh.” Orlane clutched his groin and toppled over, landing with a dull thud. He let out a whimper and instinctively curled up in a ball.

Harlow stared down at him, her voice trembling. “Do not ever put a hand on me again.” With her shoulders back, she marched out of the bathroom, leaving her aggressor in a fetal position, right where he belonged.

She returned to the wrap-up party. Her co-stars gathered round, congratulating her on sticking it out.

It had been a long haul and nothing short of a miracle that she’d made it through the grueling weeks of filming.

There had been some painful moments when she wasn’t sure she could finish. But she had, thank God.

During the worst of it, Harlow stayed focused on one thing…

the one thing that kept her pushing through…

going home to Wynn Harbor Inn, for a well-deserved and much-needed rest. Far away from the prying eyes of the media and paparazzi, who had been hounding her, following her, monitoring her every move since the day filming began.

A celebratory late lunch was served to the cast, crew, and workers. Harlow mixed and mingled, having become friends with those who had helped her through the tough spots.

She half expected Robert to show up, but he and his “assistant” Jillian were nowhere to be seen. Something told her he had his hands full consoling the woman based on her reaction, how she’d pouted and flounced off the set like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

The divorce papers were ready to be filed.

Robert knew they were coming and was expecting them as soon as the filming wrapped up.

The last straw, the final nail in the coffin as far as their marriage ending was when Harlow discovered her husband was spying on her.

Furious, she’d called her attorney, Nigel Beckworth, to have his colleague in California draw up the paperwork.

Robert had finally reached out to Harlow…not to apologize or to beg her to give their marriage a second chance, but to negotiate a deal. He wanted her to wait until the Vancouver filming was done. He’d pitched a solid, sound argument, and she’d agreed.

The last thing they needed was for the news outlets to focus on how their marriage was crumbling.

Harlow wanted…needed…this movie to be a success, not only to let other film studio executives see that she was a woman of her word, but because Harlow was certain Robert planned to squeeze every red cent he could out of the settlement.

The bottom line was she didn’t want to part ways in a fit of rage. She wanted to be calm, cool, collected and do it with a level head, not an emotional “get even” move. She hoped he was on the same page. Only time would tell.