Chapter 21: Chapter 21

SHAY

^MONDAY, JANUARY 2^

Shay grabbed her things—she needed to get back to her apartment because she had a shoot today. She wanted to get as many shoots in as possible before she started showing.

Ethan had left for work early because he had an important meeting to start off the new year.

No one else knew she was pregnant yet. They’d decided it was best to keep it just between them until the wedding, which they were planning for Valentine’s Day. Just a simple ceremony so they could get everything done quickly.

Surprisingly, Shay hadn’t experienced any symptoms. No morning sickness or weird cravings or any changes in her mood. The only thing she felt was bloated, but it wasn’t noticeable to anyone else yet.

When she arrived at her apartment, she could hear movements on the other side of the door. Her team was inside getting ready already. She smiled, thinking about how far she’d come.

She hadn’t seen her team since the 20th of December, since she’d given them time off to spend the holidays with their loved ones.

She opened her apartment door for the first time this year and smiled at everyone.

They all froze in place. Confused, she looked around and spotted Dario coming out from her room, his face full of emotion. When he saw her, he paused.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking at everyone who was staring at her.

“Have you looked at your phone?” Dario asked.

Shaking her head, she grabbed her phone from her bag. “What’s going on?” she repeated, turning it on as she walked deeper into her apartment, careful not to step on the props.

Placing her bag on the kitchen island, she scrolled through her notifications.

99+ Instagram notifications.

99+ new chats.

99+ tweets.

444 new text messages.

100 Google alerts.

99+ emails.

20 missed calls.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Shay asked, in a panic.

Her staff just stared at her, afraid to say anything.

“Come.” Dario took her gently by the elbow and led her into her old bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Shay paced around her room as she opened the Google alerts about her. When she read the titles, her eyes widened.

“Shay Haze: Virgin No More.”

“Shay Haze Is a Fraud and a Liar.”

“Shay Haze Sex Tape Leaked.”

“What?” Shay screamed.

“Shay, sit down,” Dario said.

Her eyes started to water, she sat down on the single chair in her room. Her heart pounded against her chest as she scanned through more Google alerts.

“Here,” Dario said, handing her his phone.

It was on a video. Pressing play, she impatiently waited for the video to begin.

It started off dark, but then the light came on. She recognized the room instantly—it was ~their~ room, hers and Ethan’s—and it was one of those nights where they were very into it.

She remembered that night clearly. She’d cooked dinner but they didn’t manage to eat it because he was too busy seducing her. She remembered putting on the apron and him removing it downstairs.

The video was of them kissing, and blinking rapidly, she prayed that the video would end right there.

Ethan’s face wasn’t really noticeable due to his height, and she could tell that the camera was hidden. Things were blocking part of the lens.

Her heart sinking, she pressed fast-forward.

Stopping when she got to the part she was worried about, she watched the video, tears falling freely. It was clearly her. Her face was in full view, her breasts bouncing up and down as she rode Ethan reverse cowgirl.

She stopped the video and gave Dario his phone. She couldn’t watch anymore. Feeling sick, she ran to the bathroom and emptied her stomach, vomiting all the water she consumed that morning.

She wiped her mouth before flushing the toilet, then grabbed the mouthwash from the medicine cabinet and gargled with it before spitting it out. As she rinsed her mouth, she avoided the mirror.

She couldn’t look at herself. It was too embarrassing. The whole world saw her naked, watched her have sex with the man she loved.

Wiping her eyes, Shay came out of the bathroom and sank to the floor in the corner of her room. She had no idea what to do next.

Everything she’d built was in jeopardy. Everything she had worked so hard for in the past two years was at stake. She couldn’t rebuild her life a second time, not with the twins inside her.

And she didn’t know if she had the drive anymore.

“Call Ethan,” Shay sobbed when Dario sat beside her. Her mind was clouded by so many things. And how would she face her father?

“Hello?”

Dario put the speaker on.

“Shay?”

She could hear how distraught Ethan was by his voice. She could also hear cars in the background even though he was supposed to be in a meeting.

“Hey, bro, it’s Dario here. I think you need to get to her apartment now.”

“Is she okay?” Ethan asked.

“Just get to the bloody apartment,” Dario snapped before hanging up the phone.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned on Dario and cried.

Everything she’d ever worked for was tainted. Now her name would only be associated with the accident and a leaked sex tape.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

“Ian is calling you,” Dario said softly. She shook her head—she didn’t want to deal with her brother just yet. She wouldn’t know what to say, and she knew that she needed to talk to Ethan first.

She needed to find out why he was recording her, why was he recording ~them~. Shay desperately needed answers.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

“Your dad,” Dario said.

“No!” she cried.

Dario silenced her phone and turned off vibrate, then tossed it on the bed.

Shay wasn’t sure how long she sat on the floor in Dario’s arms, crying. Saying nothing, he just held her close, trying to soothe her.

Eventually she ran out of tears and stared at the clouds outside her window, feeling numb. As she watched them roll by, her thoughts turned dark. Objectively, she knew this wasn’t worth dying for, but her despair said otherwise.

“Shay!” Ethan barged into the room.

She closed her eyes and sighed, then slowly got up. Her legs were weak, so Dario helped her.

She looked at the love of her life, wondering if he was the culprit.

“Dario, please ask everyone to leave,” she said. “I need my privacy. I’ll let you guys know in the group when we’ll resume as scheduled.” Dario nodded, then gave Ethan a death glare before leaving the room.

Ethan took a step closer to her, but she took a step back, shaking her head. He stopped walking and stared at her with pain in his eyes.

Folding her arms across her chest, she stared back at him, waiting to hear the front door close before speaking.

“Did you record us?” she asked him point-blank.

“How could you think that?” he said angrily.

“Then how the hell did a camera end up in our room?” she asked, her voice rising. “How the hell did someone put a camera in our apartment and post a video of us?”

“You tell me!” he yelled back at her.

She was taken aback by his rage—she’d never seen this side of him. But she stood her ground, her own anger flaring.

“It’s ~your~ apartment! Who else has access to it?”

“For all I know, you planted the camera! I was in that video too!”

She couldn’t believe her ears, couldn’t believe what he was accusing her of. “Fuck you!”

“Yeah, you did! And you probably fucked me for fame! Using me just like all those other girls, just because of my money.” His eyes widened, filling with rage. “You used me to get famous, didn’t you?

“Fuck the billionaire, get more likes—aren’t you all about that life? Going after likes, being superficial? For all I know, you might not have been a virgin at all. You probably faked it just to wheel me in!”

“Get the fuck out!” she yelled.

“Yeah, the babies are probably fake too, just like you,” he shouted back.

She couldn’t take it anymore!

Ethan turned his back on her and stormed out of the room, and heard the front door slam shut.

She knew Ethan. She knew he didn’t mean it, and that he’d eventually regret his words. But she couldn’t wrap her head around who did this. Why would someone do such a thing to her?

Sinking to the floor again, Shay curled into a ball and cried until she ran dry, then stared at the carpet in her room for hours. The sky turned black and the stars began to twinkle as she lay there in the dark.

When she finally peeled herself off the floor, her body was numb. Remembering that she was pregnant and needed food to nourish her body, she walked to the fridge and grabbed a cup of yogurt and apple jelly.

Her house was dark, so she turned on the lights. Props were lying on the ground everywhere.

She grabbed her laptop and turned it on as she ate her yogurt. It was instantly flooded with notifications, and she read some of them at random.

She knew exactly what she needed to do.

Putting her food to the side, she turned on her laptop’s camera. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, and her face was pale. She looked like a mess.

She pulled her hair into a messy bun and adjusted her hoodie before pressing the record button. Staring into the white light, she sighed.

“Hey, let me introduce myself.” She looked down as she cleared her throat. “I’m Shay Haze. Some of you might know me as an Instagram model and influencer, and some of you may know me from Shy Wear.”

She couldn’t bring herself to smile—everything was too gut wrenching for her.

“Today a video of me is going viral, and I would like to address that.” She paused and took a sip of water. “I’ve said in the past that I wanted to save myself for marriage, and you’ve seen a video of me having sex.

“First things first. The video was done without my consent. I did not record myself, my boyfriend did not record us, and how a camera was snuck into the room is beyond me. I’ll be filing a police report and will follow up closely.

“This was such an invasion of privacy. What I do behind closed doors, and with whom, is my business. And for someone to secretly record us is a disgusting act.” She paused, taking deep breaths, trying not to explode.

“Secondly, I’ve said in the past that I’m saving myself for marriage. And a huge part of me thought that I would.” She scoffed at her own statement. “But I fell in love and things changed.

“I’m allowed to change my mind. I’m allowed to sleep with my boyfriend if I want to. He didn’t pressure me into anything, and I wanted to. Honestly, sex is such a taboo topic. Why should it be?”

She could feel herself get emotional again.

“I’m no longer a virgin—I’ve slept with one man—but that doesn’t make me a bad person! I’m still the same person I was a year ago, I still believe in certain things, I still do everything I used to.

“That didn’t change the moment I had sex. You’ve probably read a headline or two calling me a fraud, a liar, a bitch. But honestly, whoever wrote those headlines can go fuck themselves.

“Targeting a person just because she slept with someone, tarnishing my name for your benefit… Has anyone asked how I feel? Has anyone mentioned how my privacy has been breached? Does anyone care about how this affects me?

“I spent all day on the floor of my room, fucking crying my eyes out. Judge me if you must—I’ve read it all. I’ve received death threats, saying I should die because I had sex. Shame on you!

“Shame on all of you for kicking someone when they’re down, for bullying someone for having sex just like all of you are!” Shay barely held herself back from yelling. She wiped her eyes, feeling them sting with tears.

“I will screenshot some of the hurtful things I’ve received. I’ll attach everything, showing you that I’m not lying. It’s all about receipts, right?” She chuckled sarcastically as she grabbed a tissue to wipe her nose.

“Lastly, to my family, I’m sorry for everything. There are no words for me to explain, because this is out of my control. I didn’t do this, and I know ~he~ didn’t do it.” Her family would know she was referring to Ethan.

“I’m sorry that I’m an embarrassment and a disappointment to the family…” Shay started to sob, not caring how ugly she looked on camera. She felt the pain in her heart, like someone was twisting a knife through it.

“To my loyal followers, thank you for staying by my side and trusting me. I love you all. And it should come as no surprise that I’ll be taking a break from social media for a while. Bye.”

She turned off the camera.

With tears still running down her cheeks, Shay edited the video, putting in the screenshots that she took but keeping the video exactly how she said it. She didn’t want to edit any part of it, didn’t see the point in it.

After posting the video, she turned off her laptop and shut down her phone. She didn’t need to receive any more notifications.