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Home / Romance / FALLING FOR THE DEVIL / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of FALLING FOR THE DEVIL: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

26 Chapters

Chapter One

I find the engagement ring while looking for condoms.Not my proudest moment, but Brandon's been "too tired" for three weeks and I'm ovulating and honestly I'm 26 years old with a boyfriend who still can't remember to buy his own socks. So yeah. I'm digging through his nightstand like a crazy person.That's when I see it.Small velvet box. Navy blue. Shoved behind a half-empty bottle of lube and some old receipts.My heart stops.Holy shit.I open it even though I know I shouldn't. Even though this ruins the surprise.It's beautiful. Oval diamond. Rose gold band. Delicate. Exactly what I would've picked if he'd ever bothered to ask what I wanted.He's going to propose.After four years of "I'm not ready" and "marriage is just a piece of paper" and "why do we need to label it" - Brandon finally bought a ring.I take a picture. Send it to Maya with seventeen exclamation points.She calls immediately. "OH MY GOD.""I KNOW.""You weren't supposed to find it!""I was looking for condoms!"

Chapter Two

I don't leave the venue.I should. Should get in my car and drive home and never think about this night again.But I'm contracted for four more hours and I need that two thousand dollars more than I need dignity.So I hide in the bathroom. Reapply my makeup with shaking hands. Stare at myself in the mirror until the girl looking back stops crying.Professional. I can be professional.I walk back out. Avoid the main party. Head to the cocktail area where I'm supposed to be shooting candid moments.That's when I see them.Brandon and her. The blonde. His fiancée I guess. They're laughing with his parents. His mom's hugging the girl. Admiring the ring.My ring.My stomach turns.I raise my camera. Force myself to focus. To do my job.Through the lens I watch Brandon's hand on her back. The way he looks at her. The same way he used to look at me.Four years of my life and he moved on in what? Days? Weeks?How long has this been happening?The shutter clicks. I'm shooting on autopilot now.

Chapter Three

I wake up to seventeen missed calls.My head is pounding. My mouth tastes like regret and cheap wine. I reach for my phone and immediately regret it when the screen brightness stabs my eyes.Twelve calls from my mom. Three from Brandon. Two from numbers I don't recognize.Great.I check the time. 11:47 AM. I slept through my alarm. Through three client meetings. Through any chance of salvaging today.There's a text from Maya: **Check Instagram. Don't freak out.**I immediately freak out.I open Instagram. My notifications are exploding. Hundreds of new followers. Dozens of DMs. Comments on photos from months ago.What the hell?I click on my latest post. A photo from last week's wedding. Simple caption about love and new beginnings. Very on brand for a wedding photographer.Except now it has 3,000 comments.**@kellsey_marie: This you? The psycho ex from Tyler's party?****@bradonfoster_official: For everyone asking, yes this is my ex. Yes she made a scene. Yes I'm sorry you all had to

Chapter Four

The Cross Entertainment building makes me feel poor.Not just regular poor. Like dirt poor. Like I-shouldn't-even-be-breathing-the-same-air poor.Sixty floors of steel and glass in the middle of Manhattan. There's a fountain in the lobby. An actual fountain with koi fish swimming in it.Who puts fish in an office building?I stand outside for twenty minutes before I force myself to go in.Maya's blazer is too tight. The pants are too long. I look like a kid playing dress up.This is a mistake.But my bank account says negative forty-three dollars and my mom called yesterday asking if I could help with her electric bill and I can't keep saying no.So I walk inside.The receptionist looks like she stepped out of a fashion magazine. Perfect everything. She barely glances at me."Can I help you?""I have a meeting. Claire Monroe. Two o'clock."She types something with nails so long I don't understand how she types anything."Fifty-eighth floor."That's it. No smile. No directions. Just ba

Chapter Five

The first payment hits my account at 9:03 AM.Fifty thousand dollars.I stare at my phone screen until the numbers blur. Refresh the app six times to make sure it's real.It's real.I pay rent for the next six months in one transaction. Pay my mom's electric bill. Water bill. The medical debt she's been hiding from me.By noon I've spent eighteen thousand dollars and still have more money than I've seen in my life.I should feel relieved.Instead I feel like I just sold my soul.Email from Claire arrives at 12:47 PM.**Flight tonight 11 PM. Car picks you up at 8. Pack for six months. Don't bring anything you can't afford to lose or have photographed by paparazzi. See you in LA.**I read it five times.Don't bring anything I can't afford to have photographed.What does that even mean?I spend four hours packing. Unpack everything. Start over.Most of my clothes are garbage. Stretched out t-shirts. Jeans with holes that aren't fashionable. Nothing that would survive six months.I go to

Chapter Six

I don't sleep.Can't.Every time I close my eyes I see Lennon's face. The way he looked at me like I was dirt on his shoe.**You look poor.****Acceptable.****First mistake.**At 3:45 AM I give up. Take a shower in the bathroom that's bigger than my old bedroom.When I come out there are new clothes on my bed.Black jeans. Black fitted shirt. Leather jacket. All expensive. Tags still on.A note: **Wear these. Your other clothes have been donated. - C**She threw away my clothes.Without asking.I should be angry but honestly they were garbage. She's not wrong.The new stuff fits perfectly. I look expensive. Like I belong in this world.I hate how good that feels.Claire picks me up at 4 PM."Big night tonight. Forum holds twenty thousand people. Lennon's been sold out for months.""Great. More pressure.""You'll be fine. Just stay out of the way and shoot everything."We pull up to the venue. It's massive. Bigger than anything I've ever seen.Backstage is chaos. People running everyw

Chapter Seven

The alarm goes off at 4:30 AM.I slap it off. Lay there staring at the ceiling.Four hours of sleep. That's all I got.My body feels like I got hit by a truck. My eyes burn. My hands still ache from holding the camera for eight hours straight yesterday.I drag myself to the shower. Stand under scalding water until I can think straight.By the time I'm dressed it's 5:15.Downstairs the kitchen is empty. No coffee made. No Lennon working out.I make my own coffee. Drink it black because I don't have time for anything else.The car arrives at 5:30 exactly.Different driver. Same silence.We drive through LA in the dark. I check my phone.The anonymous email from last night is still there. I read it again.**He will destroy you. Not because he's evil. Because that's what he does.**I should delete it.I don't.We pull up to a different location today. Some mansion in the hills. Gates. Security. Cameras everywhere.Claire meets me at the entrance."Photo shoot today. Magazine cover. Vogue

Chapter Eight

Three weeks in and I still can't get used to the schedule.Up at five. Work until midnight. Sleep five hours. Repeat.My body is constantly exhausted. My hands shake from holding the camera for hours. I've lost weight because I forget to eat.But the photos are getting better.Even Lennon admitted it yesterday. "These don't completely suck" were his exact words.High praise apparently.Today we're flying to San Francisco. First stop on the actual tour. Two shows back to back.I'm in my room packing when there's a knock."Come in."Claire walks in. Looks at my suitcase."You're bringing too much.""It's two days.""You only need one outfit per show. Everything else is a waste of space." She starts pulling things out of my bag. "Tour life is different. You'll see.""How many cities are we doing?""Fifteen cities. Twenty-three shows total over the next three months."My stomach drops. "Three months on the road?""That's the job. You knew this when you signed.""I know. I just didn't thin

Chapter Nine

The second San Francisco show is worse than the first.Not the performance. That's flawless.But everything else falls apart.It starts during sound check. The monitors aren't working right. Feedback keeps screeching through the speakers.Lennon stops mid-song. "Fix it."The sound engineer rushes to adjust things. "Give me two minutes.""You've had all day to get this right.""I know, I'm sorry. The equipment is broken and we're waiting on replacements.""I don't care about excuses. Fix it or I'm canceling the show."Everyone freezes.Claire steps forward. "Lennon, we can't cancel. It's sold out.""Then fix the monitors."He walks off stage. Slams his dressing room door so hard I feel it from across the venue.I'm shooting all of this from the side. Capturing the tension. The fear on everyone's faces.Claire notices me. Walks over."Don't use any of those photos.""Why not?""Because Lennon doesn't want people seeing him like this. Angry. Out of control.""But this is part of the proc

Chapter Ten

Seattle is different.I notice it the second we land. Lennon actually smiles when he gets off the plane.Not the performance smile. A real one."I love this city," he says to no one in particular.Claire looks shocked. "You're in a good mood.""Album just hit number one. Why wouldn't I be?"He walks ahead of us to the car. Actually whistling.I look at Claire. "Is he okay?""He gets like this sometimes. Manic almost. Enjoy it while it lasts."The hotel is nice but he doesn't go to his room. Goes straight to the bar."Drinks on me," he announces to the crew. "We're celebrating."Everyone exchanges confused looks but no one argues with free alcohol.I'm about to head upstairs when he calls out."Sloane. You too.""I should probably get ready for tonight's shoot.""That's in six hours. Have one drink."It's not a request.I sit at the bar. He's already ordered shots for everyone."To hitting number one," he raises his glass. "And to all of you for putting up with my shit."Everyone laugh

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