Truth or Lies? by A. Gomez (books to get back into reading TXT) 📕

and Betty. Debbie eyed me, shocked. She looked at me intently and drew her brows together. She tentatively tried to reach around me and grab Betty. I blocked that as well.

“Debbie,” I began, “you look confused, so let me briefly explain. Betty Lou will not be getting any pictures today or any other day and she will not be uploaded in that repugnant website or app you people produced. She is just a little girl.” My voice was low and even. “You have to see that. You will be subjecting her to a fate worse than death and I can’t allow that to happen. She’s just a little girl!”

“Oh really? And are you going to stop me? You forget, Isabel, all I have to do is call An and he’ll take care of you,” she threatened.

“I haven’t forgotten a damn thing, Deborah Danhour,” I hissed, still holding Betty behind me.

She stared at me, shocked that I knew her last name. She was balling her hands into fists and placing them on her hips. She called for An, who was sitting in the corner on one of the chairs, apparently watching everything transpire. I watched him as he marched in my direction, quickly assessing him. He was big and thick but I thought if I could get a few hits to his nose, chin and throat I could then knock him out with a blunt object. I pushed Betty out of the way and took my kickboxing stance. I heard An laugh, amused at my ready position. Prick! We’d see how amused he was after he hit the floor. Elsa came to Betty’s side and they both moved to the opposite side of the room. Adrenaline was coursing through my body and my heart was thumping. Hard.

“Enough!” a raspy deep voice boomed. An stopped in his tracks and took a step back. I was still holding my stance but could see Victor Chang in my periphery. “What is going on here? And why is An about to damage my property?”

“Boss, she thinks she can spit out orders at me and contradict what you want,” Debbie seethed, pointing at me.

He eyed us both. “And what would that be?” he calmly asked.

“Well, she thinks that she can just dictate over whose picture gets uploaded and who’s doesn’t,” Debbie spewed. “That little girl is…”

“That’s right,” I cut Debbie off. “She is just a little girl. Mr. Chang, Betty Lou is terrified and so innocent, please don’t do this to her. Let me take her place. Put me up on two different websites. I’ll be glad to take her place and do whatever it is you want, just… please… don’t subject her to this horror.”

He stared at me impassively. Was he angry? Was I about to get the shit beat out of me?

“The little girl can stay off the internet for now,” he snapped. “Dr. Langley, if I didn’t know you are about to make me an obscene amount of money, I would beat you myself and not think twice about where this child goes.” He turned to eye Debbie. “Betty Lou will stay off the internet for as long as Dr. Langley is with us. Once she is gone, we will place her on the website and app.”

I exhaled, not realizing I was holding my breath. I really didn’t expect that but was relieved I was able to make something happen. “Mr. Chang, if I could ask one more thing of you?” I was pressing my luck but I didn’t care, I had to try. “Would it be possible to get some special groceries and ingredients so I can bake some milk-free, nut-free cakes and cookies?”

He just blinked at me, still impassive. “Yes, that should be fine. Just give your list to Debbie and she’ll take care of it.” He turned on his heel and walked out.

Debbie eyed me suspiciously. “Take a seat in this chair.” She pointed to an oversized velvety green chair. It was striking. The seat and the back cushions were a soft-looking, deep green velvet, the arms, legs and around the back cushion were an antiqued white wood finish with very elegant and intricate carvings. Again, it looked like something out of Architectural Digest. I rubbed my hand up and around the wood and down the back cushion, admiring this work of art. And that’s exactly what it was. A work of art. I thought I was beginning to understand how Chang’s mind worked. Debbie’s words came back to me: The boss likes to keep his house elegant and beautiful. And Chang saying, It would be a shame to destroy something so beautiful. It would be like destroying my beautiful Picasso we were just admiring. So, if he thought I was beautiful and couldn’t kill me, then I could use that to my advantage, somehow.

Debbie took several pictures of me in the chair in several different poses. I was not smiling in any of them. I didn’t think I could have forced a smile if she asked. We finally finished. Betty ran to me and wrapped her arms around me. I held her tight and kissed the top of her head.

After writing my list down on a pad that Priscilla gave me, I handed the piece of paper to Debbie. She begrudgingly took it and read it over.

“I’ll place the order for this but it won’t get here until Friday,” she snapped.

“That’s perfectly fine. It’s just a few days away,” I answered with a smile. She looked at me expressionless, hate, reproach, and contempt emanating from her.

“I have to show you and Betty Lou what your chores will be around this house. I’m assuming that wherever you go she goes, so you’ll just get double chores and Betty will just have to help you,” she declared.

Debbie took us to the laundry room. Our chores were to wash and fold everyone’s