Chapter 16

"No, it's fine," he said, standing up. He went into the bathroom, and a moment later, she heard the shower turn on.

Latisha let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She touched her stomach, a new wave of panic washing over her. She couldn't be on her period for nine months. The lie had bought her time, but it wouldn't last.

Twenty minutes later, Clifford came out, his mood seemingly restored. "It's ten o'clock. Time for bed."

Before she could respond, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her upstairs. That night, Latisha lay awake long into the night, her mind racing.

The next morning, she was woken by her phone ringing. It was Nikita.

"Babe, check your WhatsApp," she said, then hung up.

Latisha unlocked her phone and saw a video from Nikita. It was a time-lapse of her painting a portrait of Latisha, sitting by a window, the sunlight catching the sadness in her eyes. Below it was another video: a white cat sitting in the same pose, which then cleverly transitioned into the painting.

Then, a string of voice messages.

"Babe, you're famous! That video has over two million likes!"

Latisha quickly typed a reply. [Nikita, what's going on?]

Her phone rang again.

"I post videos of my paintings online sometimes Nikita explained. "Some big influencer used your portrait ina video, and it just blew up. People are flooding mypage asking if you're a real person. I posted a photo of you to prove it, but they think it's fake. Are you free? I'm coming over. We need to make a video."

"

"Is Clifford home? If he is, I won't come. If he's not, tap your screen twice." Latisha quickly checked the house. He was gone. She tapped the screen twice.

"Awesome! Be there in twenty!"

Less than twenty minutes later, she

bu

heard the roar of a motorcycle., Nikita sped up to the house, her bandaged head doing nothing to detract from her roguish charm.

"Look at this," she said, showing Latisha her phone. People are eve offering to buy the paintings.

going to be an influencer."

*What does that mean?* Latisha signed.

"It means you can make money!"