Chapter 35 · Joy Hits Upload

"Don't," Lila said, half out of her chair already. "Joy, don't you dare—"

The little progress bar on the screen hit one hundred percent anyway. She watched it happen like watching a car go through a red light in slow motion, nothing she could do but say the word again, quieter, useless.

Joy's face filled the laptop, hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, some grimy stairwell wall behind her, a bucket and a mop leaning in the corner like she'd ducked in there to make this call. "Too late, Ate. It's up."

Lila's stomach dropped straight through the floor of her office. "Up where."

"Everywhere. TikTok. Facebook. I tagged the recruiter's page, I tagged Luna Bay Grand, I tagged her." Joy's voice shook but her chin didn't. "Bianca Velasco. In the caption. Spelled right, I checked twice."

"You said you'd wait. You said you'd let me handle it through the lawyer—"

"You've been handling it for three weeks and I still don't have my papers.