Sophie
All six of us went to Wembley for my concert pre-checks. My assistants, band, and manager Terry were there.
He gave me a fake smile and hug and avoided looking at Phil. “Everything is ready for you.” He pointed to the stage.
“Thanks.” I gave him a fake smile back. I still wasn’t happy with him disclosing my security details and other actions from the day before.
He nodded and walked away.
I motioned for everyone to join me. “Come on, let’s go see how the stage feels.”
Phil, Tom, Liv, Ethan, and Claire all followed me on stage. Tom whistled.
I looked around at all the empty seats and started to imagine it full. Energy began to race through my blood.
“You look so happy, Petal,” Phil quietly said next to me.
Smiling, I peered up at him. “I am. I’ve waited for this for a long time.”
He pulled me into him and kissed my head. “I’m proud of you. This is a huge deal.”
Happiness was soaring through me, and I smiled at him as I continued to look around.
I had played on too many stages to count, but there was something about Wembley that always intrigued me. It took years to get onto the concert list, and my concert booking was no exception.
Someone cleared their voice. I turned to see Timko standing behind me. “Hey, Timko.”
“Sophie. Phil.” He nodded.
“Everything okay?” Phil asked.
“Yes. I just wanted Sophie to know where the guards will be positioned throughout the show.”
“Okay.”
Timko walked me around the stage and referenced the different locations along the stage’s perimeter, and also pointed out different parts of the stadium that the guards would be stationed at. “We’re also going to have different alarms on the stage you can push if you see anything suspicious. The lights will automatically shut off, and our guards will throw on nighttime goggles and come get you.”
“Seriously?” I looked at him in question.
“Yes.”
“Nighttime goggles?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.” This was definitely a step up in security.
Timko walked me around the stage and pointed out all the different places alarms would be stationed, including on my mic stand, as well as one that would be on my headset.
“We have double-checks on weapons and will do several sweeps before your arrival tomorrow night,” Timko continued.
“Is there anything you need me to do?” Phil asked.
“No, you can enjoy the show. We’ve got this covered, Phil. If you’ll excuse me, I need to update the rest of the team.” Timko left.
I looked at Phil and wrapped my arms around his waist. As much as I wanted him just to enjoy the show, I doubted he fully would. “Did you hear that? You can relax tomorrow night.”
He smiled at me, didn’t say anything, and kissed me.
“Phil—”
“Carlotta!”
Archey, the interviewer from yesterday, had appeared from nowhere.
“Archey, what are you doing here?”
“We didn’t get to finish our interview. Terry said I could come today and we could finish. He just let me in.”
What the hell? And where is Terry?
I tilted my head at him. “I’m sorry, Archey, but Terry shouldn’t have told you that. I have a lot of work to do to prepare for the concert.”
Archey waved his hand at me. “It’ll only take a few minutes. I see all your friends are here?”
Phil took a step forward. “I believe Carlotta told you that it wasn’t a good time.”
In the corner of my eye, I saw Tom, Liv, Ethan, and Claire walking toward us.
Archey ignored Phil. “Carlotta, is it true that your security clause has been enforced?”
Phil’s voice got stern. “As discussed yesterday, Carlotta’s security is not up for discussion.”
Finally, I located Terry in the corner of the stage with his arms over his chest. I walked over to him. “Terry, what is this bullshit?”
He nonchalantly replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I gave him a confused stare. Why is he allowing this? He’s supposed to have my back.
He continued to watch Phil talk with Archey. Tom and Ethan were also involved in the conversation.
Claire and Liv stood off to the side and gave me nervous glances. I turned and walked away from Terry and back to them.
“You need to leave.” Phil pointed to the stairs.
Archey wasn’t backing down. He turned toward me. “Terry has assured me I’m allowed to be here. So, Carlotta, we’ve been informed that you’ll have special alarms on stage tomorrow night for extra security precautions. Exactly how many threats are you getting on a day-to-day basis?”
Phil pushed me back and stepped between us. “I told you this is over. You need to leave now.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Tom pick up his phone.
Terry continued to lean against the wall with a smug look on his face.
Why is he doing this?
“Carlotta—or should I say, Sophie—can you answer the question?”
My head snapped at him.
Ethan stepped up. “You need to leave now.”
“Ethan Knight, I’m glad you’re here. Can you confirm that Sophie Cradle, known as Carlotta Ensign, was pregnant with your brother Eric’s child, and that she lost the baby a few months after he committed suicide by shooting himself? Do you think he shot himself because he didn’t want to be a father? Or was the baby really yours?”
Ethan and Phil both lunged at Archey as Tom tried to hold them back. Guards rushed the stage. I froze and watched everything as if it was in slow motion with my heart banging in my chest.
The world around me seemed to shrink. Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. Things became very loud, and I was being pulled back. I realized Claire and Liv each had an arm through mine and were moving me backward.
Crouched down, I tried to breathe as pain shot through my chest. The arena spun, and I sat on the ground with my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth. Liv and Claire sat down next to me, rubbing my back, but it was a blur.
How does Archey know? No one knew except Ethan.
From the corner of my eye, I saw something move.
Terry. He knew. I saw it in his smug expression.
How does he know?
I started to wrack my brain.
My chest seized up further as I realized he knew from me. I had gotten drunk one night, on the anniversary of my baby’s death, and cried about Eric and the baby to Terry. He’d made a pass at me, and I had denied him. I blew it off as us both being drunk, but he must have been holding it against me.
“I’m going to kill him,” I seethed, and jerked my head at him. I went to stand up, and Liv pushed me back.
“No, Sophie!”
“Liv, let me go!”
She didn’t say anything and held me back. Claire looked back and forth between Ethan and me.
The guards were removing Archey and also holding back Ethan and Phil. Tom was helping them.
“Get him out of here!” I shouted, and pointed to him as Liv tried to contain me.
Ethan’s head snapped to me, and his eyes met mine. He realized Terry was the culprit. “You motherfucker,” he screamed toward him, and tried to escape the grasp of the guards.
Terry stood there and laughed.
Timko came from behind him and grabbed him. “Time to go.”
Terry laughed some more and winked at me. “See you tomorrow, Sunshine.”
I tried to escape Liv again, but she held me firm. “Argh!” I screamed.
It took us a while to calm down. Once the guards confirmed Archey and Terry were off the premises, they finally released the guys, and Liv let go of me.
Ethan’s face was full of horror and rage, and I couldn’t look at anyone else. My secrets were out, and the entire world was about to know them.
Ironically, I didn’t have any tears. I just felt anger. I walked off the stage and into the back part of the arena.
Ethan was quick on my heels. “Soph!”
I stopped, took a deep breath, and spun toward him. “I’m sorry. Your name is going to get trashed with lies in the tabloids.”
“I don’t care about that. You and I know the truth. Are you okay?”
I started laughing.
He tilted his head and squinted at me. “What’s so funny?”
“What exactly does ‘okay’ mean? Have I ever really been okay? Ethan, I don’t know what okay means.” I started to walk away, and he grabbed my arm.
“Soph!”
“What, Ethan?” I snapped.
He didn’t say anything and just stared at me.
“There’s nothing to say,” I told him. “I’ve said all my words and I’ve cried all my tears. I just can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
My thoughts were chaotic, and everything I had been trying to avoid over so many years came crashing to the surface. I closed my eyes and threw up my hands. “I don’t know, Ethan. I’m just tired...and so over all this...this...everything. The past, the threats, my shitty manager and label... I’m done with it all.” I turned and started walking again. I walked for a long time around the arena, no longer even trying to push things to the back of my mind.
A lifetime of fears had stewed and festered. I had allowed so many things to go on regarding my career because I was scared of standing up for myself and making a change. My past had ruled my decisions throughout my entire life, and I hadn’t ever dealt with it. And the last few months, it had all been catching up to me.
As my anger started to subside, it became clear what I needed to do.
It was time for a change and to stop being a victim. But no one could do it for me. I had to make the change.
I turned around and walked back through the stadium.
When I got back, Phil, Ethan, Claire, Liv, and Tom were sitting in the front stadium seats. They stood up when they saw me.
It was time to do something I had never done before. I walked up to Phil, looked at him, then everyone else, then back at Phil, and said, “I need your help. Will you help me?”
I could feel everyone staring at me.
He scanned my eyes. “Of course. Tell me what you need, Petal.”
“I want Terry fired. I don’t want to see him ever again. Get a restraining order if you need to. I want all the contracts I’ve ever signed reviewed, and anything you think is off I want you to tell me what I need to do to correct it. And I want a different label.”
Phil slowly nodded his head. “Okay, Petal. I can’t do anything without your contracts. Where do you keep them?”
“In my office. I have a lock code for my filing cabinet. Do you have anyone who can get my contracts today? I don’t want to wait until we get back to New York.”
Phil didn’t hesitate. “That can be arranged, but do you have a lockbox code to get into your penthouse?”
I shook my head. “Ethan has my emergency key.”
“Collin and Meg have my emergency key,” Ethan chimed in. “They could get into my place and get your key, Soph.”
“I’ll call Meg,” Liv volunteered.
I turned to her. “Thanks. Please tell her I appreciate it. My code is 329047 to the filing cabinet.”
“No problem. She’ll be happy to help,” Liv insisted.
I turned to Tom. “Can you have David bring all our belongings and get some suites at a hotel in town? I need to be close to my band tonight and tomorrow. I’m assuming the new team of bodyguards can get us in and out of the hotel this time without us being mobbed?”
Tom grinned at me. “They sure can. Consider it done.”
“Thank you.” I turned to Claire. “If there’s anything criminal going on in my contracts, can you take over and help me fry Terry and my label’s asses?”
“I’d actually have fun doing that.” She smiled at me.
I laughed. “Good.”
I stepped closer to Phil and kissed him. “If there’s anything else you think needs to happen for me to have control over my career, I give you permission to do it.”
He peered at me. “You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Consider it done.”
I turned. “Liv, is there anything you can do to either stop this story or respond to it? My label handles my PR right now, and I want you to take over, if you would?”
“Sure, whatever you need. I’ll see what we can do about the story. I can’t guarantee it won’t run, but we can be proactive if it gets out.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at her.
I walked over to Ethan. "With Terry gone, I’m going to need someone to direct the band and my assistants. You know most of them, and they trust you. Can you help me out today and tomorrow?”
He grinned. “Sure.”
“Walk with me, then. I think it’s time we had a concert my way.”