Plat, page 23
37
Tyler
I didn’t know who was more surprised to see Darren—me or Ariel. She looked like she might pass out, and it made me pretty nervous, too. I’d spoken to him yesterday afternoon, and he’d been noncommittal, though I’d hoped he’d been listening. Mostly, I’d tried to appeal to his business sense, reminding him that making an enemy of Ariel would only force her to dig in her heels about doing another album if the conservatorship was dissolved. I’d also pointed out that no matter what happened today, she was never going to marry him. He and Douglas could scheme all they wanted, but she was a grown woman, and there was zero chance she would ever agree to it.
I hadn’t been sure I’d been successful, and now that he was here I was a little worried. Okay, a lot worried. He looked as smarmy and condescending as ever, which didn’t bode well for us.
“Who are you?” Judge McDonald asked Darren as he approached.
“Darren Randall. CEO of Urban Whiplash Records and Ms. Fuch’s alleged fiancé.”
“He wasn’t on the list!” Mr. Fitzgibbons sputtered.
“Last-minute addition,” Madeline said. “Apologies, Your Honor. He only texted me a few minutes ago that he was able to be here.”
“Is this your next witness, counselor?”
“It is.”
Douglas’s attorney finished up with Stu because Darren’s appearance had pretty much taken the wind out of his sails, and Stu winked at Ariel as he walked past her to get back to his seat. Even though she wasn’t talking to me, I couldn’t help but reach out and gently squeeze Ariel’s shoulder. She glanced back, saw it was me, gave a tiny nod of acknowledgment, and then nothing. Damn. Being estranged from her was brutal, but I couldn’t worry about that yet. Darren was either going to make or break the hearing. I felt a little better now that I knew Darren reached out to Madeline, but I didn’t trust the guy as far as I could throw him.
“Thank you for coming, Mr. Randall.” Madeline was already on her feet, approaching him. “Would you tell us the status of your relationship with Ms. Fuchs?”
“I’m the CEO of Urban Whiplash Records, and she’s one of the top artists on the label.”
“Can you explain what that means for non-music industry people?”
“It means we signed her to a deal, she makes music and tours, and we all make a lot of money. I feel like I’ve had a hand in her success since I was the one who discovered her, so I pay close attention to both her life and her career.”
“I see. Are you and Ms. Fuchs engaged?”
He smiled, shaking his head. “We are not.”
I watched the tension practically drain from Ariel’s body and breathed my own sigh of relief.
“Are you dating?”
He shook his head again. “We are not.”
“Then can you explain to the court why your engagement was headlining news on social media?”
He coughed, scratching his chin. “Well, let’s call it a mid-life crisis. Ms. Fuchs is obviously a beautiful young woman, and when her father told me it would be a beneficial match, for us to get married and become the newest Hollywood power couple, I assumed she was on board. It stroked my ego, you know? For a man my age, who’s never been married or had children, it was a harmless little fantasy. At least that’s what I thought.”
“So you never actually discussed it with Ms. Fuchs.”
“I did not.”
“And when the photographs emerged of her and Mr. Thompson, what was your reaction?”
He glanced at Ariel, then at me, and then back at Madeline. “Not much of anything. Resignation that my little fantasy was over, and I moved on with my day.”
“Did you reach out to Mr. Fuchs?”
“There was no purpose in that. I realized then that he was trying to control her and using me to get his way.”
“In what way would Mr. Fuchs benefit by you marrying his daughter?”
“The way he always has—he and I have handled every detail of her career together, and managing both her personal and professional life has taken a toll on him. He’s middle-aged now and tired. I’m guessing he was looking for someone to take over the personal part so he could reap the rewards of the professional part.”
Douglas and his attorneys were scribbling and whispering furiously to each other, but Madeline wasn’t finished.
“Mr. Randall, you’ve known Ms. Fuchs a long time, yes?”
“About eight years.”
“Have you ever personally seen her out of control?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“Manic, drunk, high, participating in dangerous behavior? Anything that would cause you to be concerned about her mental or physical well-being?”
“I have not.”
“Have you ever had a complaint about her behavior from others in the industry? Journalists, musicians who worked on her albums, other acts on tour with her? Anything like that?”
“No. In fact, everyone seems to love Ariel.”
“Thank you, Mr. Randall. That’s all I have.”
Douglas’s attorneys were ready, and the one who seemed to be in charge quickly got up.
“Mr. Randall, would you say you and Mr. Fuchs are close?”
“No.” He arched his brows. “We have a professional relationship, of course, but it’s not like we’re drinking buddies or go on vacation together.”
“So you just took his word for it when he told you his daughter was interested in marrying you? A young, beautiful woman like that?”
“I indulged in a stupid fantasy for about a week until I realized I’d been had. I’m not proud of it, but there was no malice intended.”
“Didn’t you retaliate for Ariel cheating on you by passing on the deal you offered to her new boyfriend’s band, Nobody’s Fool?”
“I did not. Nobody’s Fool plays hard rock with a metal edge, and that’s not what we’re signing right now. It was in no way personal. Mr. Thompson and I worked together successfully for more than a decade when he was with Pretty Harts. I hope there are no hard feelings. It was purely a business decision.”
I looked over at Douglas, and he was furious, whispering to one of his attorneys non-stop. Which meant things weren’t going well for them, and he knew it.
It seemed to go on forever, but Darren wasn’t easily intimidated, and no matter what they threw at him, he had a reasonable answer. Hopefully, this would all be over soon.
“There’s one last name on the list of character witnesses,” Judge McDonald said. “Is Dr. Filipo here?”
Ariel’s head turned, and I saw the astonishment on her face. I had no idea who this guy was, but she seemed happy to see him. He’d been sitting in the back, and I hadn’t noticed him come in, but now he got up and walked to the front of the room with a smile.
“Can you tell us who you are?” Judge McDonald asked him.
“Yes. My name is Dr. Ferdinand Filipo. I am a pharmacist in Hiskale, Limaj.”
“Dr. Filipo, can you tell us how you came to meet Ms. Fuchs?”
He nodded. “I am one of just two trusted pharmacists for the Royal Family of Limaj, including King Erik. The palace physician reached out to me and explained that a guest at the palace needed a refill on her bipolar medication. They sent me a photograph of the label of what I assumed was her pill bottle, and I filled a thirty-day supply. A few days later, Ms. Fuchs came into the pharmacy. She had both her original pill bottle and the one I had sent her. She was concerned I had made a mistake because her pills were white, and the ones I sent were green.”
“We have pictures, Your Honor.” Madeline handed her what looked like photographs.
“And what happened?” Madeline urged him to continue.
“I showed her that the pills in her original bottle were nothing but ibuprofen and—”
“That’s bullshit!” Douglas was on his feet, yelling. “Your Honor, she’s playing you! That’s what people like her do, they manipulate and—”
“Mr. Fuchs!” Judge McDonald spoke sharply. “You will sit down and be quiet, or you’ll be held in contempt. Your attorney has plenty of time to cross-examine the witness.”
Madeline continued asking Dr. Filipo questions, but I barely heard them because I was reeling from this revelation.
Ariel hadn’t been medicated.
Which meant she wasn’t bipolar.
Jesus fucking Christ, what had I done? I remembered that she’d come back from the pharmacy that day and said she had something important to tell me, but I’d been so focused on fixing the situation with her, the band, and everything else, I’d never given her a chance. She’d stood there while I’d been talking about finding her a new shrink and learning how to manage her disease while she’d just found out she almost definitely wasn’t bipolar. And hadn’t said a word to defend herself.
It had been three weeks since then, and she still hadn’t told me.
No wonder she’d been so hurt and angry.
Dear god, what had I done?
Shame washed over me, and I hung my head for a few seconds, trying to imagine a scenario where she would forgive me for misjudging her so badly. Warm fingers closed around mine, and I glanced over at my mother, who was watching me intently.
“It’s okay,” she mouthed.
I managed a small smile but felt like a total asshole.
“I do have one last witness,” Madeline said, bringing me back to the present.
“I see the name.” Judge McDonald peered onto her list. “Reuben Goldman.”
“Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Goldman is a forensic accountant. We hired him to go through Ms. Fuchs’s financials with a fine-tooth comb due to large amounts of money she was sure were missing.”
Judge McDonald raised her eyebrows. “By all means, Mr. Goldman. I’d like to hear what you have to say.”
By the time Mr. Goldman told the judge what he’d found and how much money had allegedly disappeared from Ariel’s accounts, Douglas’s side of the room had gotten very quiet. Though his attorneys were still scribbling furiously at their table, Douglas’s face had become a mask of fury, hands clutched into fists in front of him. He kept looking over at Ariel, but she was ignoring him even more than she’d been ignoring me the last couple of weeks.
We’d been at this all day, without even a real lunch break, because it was the last day the judge was working before the holidays, and she wanted it settled today. It was close to five o’clock now, and we were all on edge. Judge McDonald had been quiet for the last fifteen minutes or so, going through the reports she’d accumulated over the course of the day. Finally, she removed her glasses and looked up.
“This has been a hell of a day, if you don’t mind my saying so. I’ll admit I had some preconceived notions about you, Ms. Fuchs, and I should probably apologize for them. You don’t appear to be anything like the person you’ve been portrayed as in the media. However, as far as the case before us today, there’s really only one decision I could make in good conscience.”
She paused and looked over at Douglas. “You, Mr. Fuchs, are the worst kind of parent. The kind who uses and manipulates your child for personal gain. Whether it was for the money it appears you’ve stolen or simply the lifestyle afforded to you as the conservator, whatever it was, it stinks to high heaven, and I hope your daughter sues the hell out of you.”
She turned to Ariel, who’d stood up. “Ms. Fuchs, I’m going to dissolve the conservatorship.”
“Oh my god.” Ariel immediately turned to Lexi, who hugged her.
“But there will be stipulations. You’re to continue to see someone, either Dr. Mannon or another psychiatrist of your choice, but someone approved by me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And we’ll meet again in six months’ time to re-evaluate. You’ve shown me nearly eight years of exemplary behavior, so I’m going to chalk up your teenage shenanigans to just that. I want to be sure that you were misdiagnosed and that this isn’t just a period of calm in your life, though I highly doubt that’s the case. But as of now, you are free to do as you wish, and your father no longer has control of you, your career, or your assets.”
“Can we change the locks at the house?” Madeline asked her.
“If Ms. Fuchs doesn’t want him to live there anymore, Mr. Fuchs has twenty-four hours to remove his belongings,” Judge McDonald said. “If he takes anything beyond his clothes, toiletries, and personal items like a computer or family photographs, I’ll throw his ass in jail.”
“Th-thank you. Oh my god. We did it.” Ariel stared at Madeline for a moment and then burst into tears.
38
Ariel
The judge was still talking, but I was crying too hard to hear all of it. She was telling my father he should probably retain counsel because his actions were questionable, but I didn’t care anymore. Not about the money and not about the house in Beverly Hills. He could take everything in the house if he wanted because I had the thing I wanted most.
I was free.
I’d done it.
She was dissolving the conservatorship, and for the first time in my life, I could do anything I wanted.
Someone pressed a tissue in my hand, and I used it to dab at my eyes, completely overwhelmed.
“You did it!” Stu gave me a big smile and held out his arms. I fell into them happily, hugging him and then Ford and Bash. Lexi was there, too, laughing with the guys as my father blustered and complained to his attorneys, who were ignoring him.
“Ariel.” Tyler’s voice gave me goose bumps.
I’d known he was here, but it had been easy to ignore him. Now I couldn’t, and I turned slowly, hoping I wouldn’t burst into tears all over again.
“What are you doing here?” I asked in a quiet voice.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t show up?” I asked. “Come on, you should know me better than that.”
“I thought I did, but apparently, I don’t know you at all.”
“Tyler. Aren’t you going to introduce us?” The woman I’d assumed was his mother spoke softly, though she was watching me curiously.
Tyler cleared his throat. “Ariel, I’d like you to meet my parents, Tobias and Abigail Rabinowicz. Mom, Dad, this is Ariel.”
“Hello.” I couldn’t help but smile at the genuine friendliness I saw in both their faces as I shook their hands. I wasn’t sure what they were doing here, but I didn’t have time to ask because Darren had approached our little group, and I had to thank him. “Darren. I appreciate what you said today.”
He shrugged. “It was the truth. I had no idea your father had lied about your diagnosis or that he was stealing from you. I have a lot invested in you professionally, and I have no interest in doing anything that might impact our working relationship. There’s a lot of money to be made, for both Whiplash and Ariel Fox.”
I smiled. I was so happy I’d even be willing to do another album and a tour, as long as it was on my terms. “I have to get my life in order first, but we’ll talk about that next year.”
“Indeed we will.” He smiled and waved. “Happy holidays, everyone.”
“I’m starving,” Ford rumbled. “Can we go get food? I don’t care where or what, but I gotta eat.”
“Ditto.” Bash nodded.
“I was planning to gather anyone who wanted to come at my house,” Madeline said. She turned to Erik. “Would you like to ride with us, Your Majesty?”
“Erik when we’re in private,” he said. “And we have a limo of our own, but we’re happy to follow you. We have several hours until the jet is ready to head back to Europe.”
The next ten minutes were fairly chaotic as we all disbursed and Madeline gave everyone her address in case we got separated.
“Your Majesty.” Madeline paused. “Erik. Would you mind terribly if I rode with you? I believe Tyler and Ariel have something to discuss in private.”
I started to protest, but Madeline was immediately whisked away with Erik, Dr. Filipo, Marcus, and Mr. and Mrs. Rabinowicz, while Lexi took off with Stu, Ford, and Bash. Leaving Tyler to walk with me, Tex, and Dane, whom Madeline had instructed to stay with me until further notice. I didn’t know what that meant, and I wasn’t going home to the house in Beverly Hills until I’d had the locks changed, but now I was alone in the limo with Tyler and didn’t know what to say to him.
“I owe you a huge apology,” he said after a moment. “I was such a jerk, and I don’t know how I’m going to make it up to you, but please give me a chance to explain.”
“Oh, Tyler.” I rested the side of my face against the cool leather seats. I’d been so hurt and angry before today but knowing that he’d come to be here for me, even though I hadn’t asked him or told him about my new diagnosis, meant a lot. “I don’t even know what you’re doing here. And why are your parents here?”
“Because they want to meet you, and when I told them how important today was, they wanted to be here to support you.”
“Why would you tell them all of that?” I asked in confusion.
“Because I love you, and if I love you, then they do, too. It’s how it works in our family.”
I blinked away tears, unsure how to respond to that.
He loved me?
We hadn’t used those words because it was way too soon for me, and I hadn’t thought they applied for him. But he’d shown up for the hearing, believing I was bipolar since he didn’t know what had happened, and that had to mean something. I just didn’t know what.
“Babe?” He was watching me intently, those gorgeous blue eyes boring into mine. “Did you hear me?”
“I did.” I turned, taking in his handsome face, trying to read what I saw there. It was hard to tell what he was feeling because all I saw in his eyes was regret with a smidge of something I couldn’t quite understand.
Fear?
Was an ultra-hot rock star like Tyler Thompson afraid of me? That made no sense at all.
“You look sad,” I whispered, since I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Because the thought of losing you guts me,” he whispered back. He scooted forward on the seat so our faces were only inches apart.
