Accepting You

Chapter 68 - Ultimatum

Lizzie followed Ellis' instructions from her text and went up the elevator. The moment the doors opened, Ellis was there to meet her and pull her down the hall and into an office. To Lizzie's surprise, they weren't the only one.

An older woman, probably in her early 50s sat behind a desk. Glasses sat at the bridge of her nose and she wore a frown. Lizzie could tell it wasn't directed at her but she didn't look very inviting.

"Lizzie, this is Clara," Ellis introduces the two of them, shutting the door quietly behind them. "She was my boss when I started at this agency and has become my mentor in this industry."

"I wish it was under different circumstances," Clara says. She gestures to the chairs in front of her. "Please, take a seat."

"What's going on?" Lizzie asks, looking between the other two women. She takes a seat and crosses her legs. Her palms were getting sweaty and she clutched her phone in one hand and her purse in the other, not knowing why she felt nervous. It's obvious from Ellis' and Clara's expression that this isn't a good meeting.

Ellis takes the seat next to her and turns her body to face Lizzie. Ellis held her hands together and pursed her lips into a thin line, not knowing where to start, but knowing she had to be the one to tell Lizzie. The news would come easier if it came from her.

"I'm in trouble," Ellis says, deciding it would be easier to rip off the bandaid. "And it's most definitely going to affect Lily and I don't know how to stop it."

"What is it?" Lizzie asks, her heart beat doubling in pace at the mention of Lily.

"It's Joseph," Clara interjects. "I have heard rumors that he's plotting something against Lily and to do that, he's targeting Ellis."

"How?" Lizzie asks with a frown. "Both of you have left this agency for over a year. Almost two years."

Clara shakes her head. "I'm not sure. He's been holding meetings with the legal team every day for the past two weeks. I didn't think anything of it until he asked me for a copy of Ellis' employment contract yesterday."

"That could mean anything," Lizzie says skeptically.

"I have a friend in legal," Clara says, and to Lizzie's dismay, she has no hint of amusement in her facial expression or tone. She's coming to learn Clara is a very serious person. "He lives for gossip and he's told me they're working on something big. They couldn't touch Lily – from my understanding she made the right decisions even if she didn't know it. Her contract had ended and she didn't renew; it's not like she canceled or breached her contract. And then she went independent instead of going to another agency. They would have fought the other legal team and try to scare them into dropping Lily but that's not possible."

Lizzie couldn't help but feel a little bit relieved. Lily's safe.

Ellis is a friend; they've gotten close since they were the two people around Lily the most and that meant they would hang out a lot. Other than Hailee, they were the people closest to Lily and it was natural for them to become friendly.

And yet Lizzie didn't feel guilty for feeling relieved that Lily was out of harm's way. She felt sympathetic for the younger woman but her relief was more overpowering.

"Okay...so what are they planning?" Lizzie asks. "And how do I help?"

"He didn't say," Clara sighs. "I'm going to try to get more information but Ellis decided you should know considering this could impact Lily."

"Lily would want to know," Lizzie states. "She would want to help. We should tell her if it could affect her and her career."

"I...I didn't want to worry her prematurely," Elllis admits. "There's a lot going on for her in her professional and personal life and I didn't want to add to her plate."