Page 55 of The Publicity Stunt

"Bri, that's not true," Kace says. "What Rudy said isn't true."

"He knew about the arrangement. The reason this whole thing started," she says.

Placing her hand on her stomach, she feels like she may be sick. And she can't look at him. If she looks at him, she'll break down crying, and she won't give him that satisfaction. He's seen all of her except that side. Which hurts even more because he's the only one she wants to seek comfort in.

"Baby, listen to me-"

"I trusted you," she interrupts and leans against the wall to support her. "I told you things only my team and Tessa know. What else have you told people? What else does Brett know? Does he know I let you..."

Kace fights against Bobby, and she glances up to see him almost win. Almost. "I was never with anyone else! I swear it!"

"You introduced me to your family. Your dad, okay, I did that, but why go through all this effort if it never meant anything to you? To keep the story going from your side? To keep me believing we had something real?"

"It is real!"

Tessa runs up and grabs Bri's arms. "What's going on? You look sick, Bri."

"They were just escorting Kace from the building," Bri says, her voice shaking.

"What? Why?" Tessa whips around to face Kace. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing! It isn't true!" he shouts. "Bri, baby, you have to believe me."

Swallowing, she looks up but can't look at his face. "Do you still have the engagement ring you bought for Sasha?"

"What?"

"He said you probably still had it. Do you?"

"I forgot I had it. I threw it in a drawer and haven't looked at it since."

Tessa rushes and wraps herself around Bri to keep her steady. "Sasha? Your ex-girlfriend, Sasha?"

"It felt so real. I thought you actually liked me," Bri says, her arms clinging to Tessa. "That there was a chance you could fall in love with me."

"Bri-"

"You told Brett."

Kace struggles against Bobby but can't break free. "You told Tessa!"

"And I told her the moment it wasn't fake for me. You never told Brett. God, what you did was even worse than what Easton did," Bri says, the tears slipping out, and she uses Tessa as a human shield to keep him from seeing her. "Easton wasn't capable of making me fall in love with him, but you were. You knew exactly what to do and used it to get to me. To make this all so convincing. But you're just like Eason. You turned around and humiliated me just like he did."

Tessa shifts to keep her hidden when she turns to Bobby. "Get him out of here."

"Tessa, I swear, it wasn't fake for me! Please, you have to believe me. If you believe me, Bri will believe me. It wasn't an act!" he shouts, but her team pulls him away.

"Is he gone?" Bri asks when she can't hear him anymore.

"Yeah, he's gone, babe."

Her legs give way, and the dam breaks. Crying out, the emotional pain hits so hard it feels physical, and she falls to the floor as she becomes dead weight in Tessa's arms.

"Tessa, what do we do?" Nia asks, and Bri would laugh at how alarmed she sounds if she wasn't so distressed.

They've both seen her fall apart before, but not like this. Nothing like this has ever happened, and she swore it never would.

"Let's get her inside before a reporter happens to stumble upon us," she says and carries Bri into the room. "Bri, talk to me. Babe, you're scaring me."

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