Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 70 of 78

Kylie's mother stayed on the line after the shock. Now she needed a plan. Kylie sat at the kitchen counter with Arianna beside her, the pool and fountain glowing through the tall windows. The wedding was real. But it was also a target. The label knew about the engagement. Soon they would learn the truth, and Kylie's mother had no way to protect it. "They'll dig," her mother said. "A license leaves a record. A date. Witnesses. The moment they file a request, some clerk leaks it." Kylie looked at Arianna. "There is no paper trail." "What do you mean, no paper trail?" "The license never went through any office," Kylie said. "It was delivered by hand. Signed here. Nobody drove it anywhere." Her mother went quiet. "Then where is it now?" Arianna leaned toward the phone. "With someone we trust. She flew it in and she can hold it. No mail. No courier. Nothing to trace." Kylie heard her mother breathe out slow. "You're telling me the whole record exists on one piece of paper, and no copy sits in a government file." "Yes," Kylie said. "That's exactly what I'm telling you." "Then that's the shield," her mother said. "The label can guess. They can't prove. A rumor dies without a document." Her voice sharpened. "But we control the story before they invent one. You announce the marriage yourselves, on your terms, when you choose. Not a leak. A statement." Kylie squeezed Arianna's hand. This was the same fight they had won before, at the dock and after the song leaked. Tell it first. Own the words. "We're not announcing yet," Kylie said. "We just got married. We want the island first." "Fine," her mother said. "Then here's what I do. I tell the label you two are resting and unreachable. I confirm nothing about an engagement. If a reporter asks about a wedding, I laugh and say you're on vacation." She paused. "That buys you the week. It only holds if that license never surfaces." "It won't," Arianna said. "We'll keep it out of every hand but ours." "Then keep it that way," her mother said. "When you come home, we sit down and plan the announcement together. All three of us. No surprises." Kylie felt something ease in her chest. Her mother wasn't fighting the marriage. She was guarding it. "Thank you, Mom," Kylie said. "Don't thank me. Protect that paper." The line clicked off. Kylie set the phone down. Outside, the fountain kept pouring into the pool. She turned to Arianna. "She's on our side," Kylie said. "But the license is the whole thing now. If it leaks, so do we." Arianna nodded slowly. "Then we need it somewhere no one can reach. Not the house. Not a drawer." Kylie thought of the one person who could carry it beyond any reporter, any clerk, any hand. The person who had flown it in. "I know who," Kylie said. "I have to call her."