Chapter 95

Pearl showed Ian to the guesthouse while Rhys was still on his phone. "Make yourself at home." She said, putting fresh folded linens out for him. "Our housekeeper will be here tomorrow, full time. She and her sister are moving here from New York. Hopefully you'll be ok until then."

Ian thanked her. He promised to make things right. She knew he would. "I'm really sorry. I hope this all works out. I feel terrible.", he said as she went to leave. "I know you do. Let's focus on this album and get through one day at a time. Thank you for telling us about her." And she left.

When she got to the main house, Jim and Rhys were talking in the kitchen. She heard Rhys say, "We have to make sure she doesn't have a copy. I'm certain I had the only one."

"The only one of what?" Pearl asked, interrupting them. Jim put his head down and excused himself. Rhys looked nervous. "The only one of WHAT?" Pearl asked again.

Rhys took a deep breath. "There's a video. A video that could be incriminating against me if it got out without the context of which it is was filmed."

"A video. Like a sex tape?" Pearl's stomach dropped.

"Yes." Rhys put his head down, he was ashamed and she could see it.

"I want to know everything. I want to know everything that's on that video. I want to know everyone you've been with. I want to know who I am marrying. I want to know everything." She said, choking back the lump in her throat.

He put his hands on his face and exhaled.

"Are you sure?", he asked.

"Yep." She sounded sure but she wasn't sure. He was so good to her. So loving. So kind. But what had he been like before?

"I've only had a couple of girlfriends, but I've slept with many, many women. I had a drinking and drug problem for a little while. My life was a party in my early twenties. A mess. I'm not proud of it."

Pearl asked how many women and what kind of drugs.

"No needles or anything. Mostly pills and speed. And there have been more than a hundred." He couldn't look her in the eyes.

She gasped. She had felt like a whore being with the men she had before him. She was a saint compared to him.

"I don't remember many of them. It becomes a blur after awhile. I was with Carys on and off for most of it all. Sometimes I would sleep with women with her. She had a fetish, a dangerous one. She liked the damsel in distress fantasies. Her pretending to be attacked. She liked to record herself doing it. She asked me to film a scenario like that with her and her friend one night. And we did. We are actors, you know? So, it looked real."

"Oh my god." Pearl put her hand on her mouth. "I don't know what to say, to think."

"I know. I'm so sorry. You have to understand that the life I was living didn't make me happy. It was all shallow. Lifeless. I was becoming the classic celebrity kid. Ruining my life. I decided to slow down and spend the last couple of years on my own, cleaning up my act, giving my time to charities. I still saw Carys on and off but we were basically done awhile ago. I was living quietly for some time before I met you. And when I met you, it all became clear. I knew what I was supposed to do."

Pearl felt herself fighting tears. She wasn't prepared for this. She knew it naive and stupid but she preferred to see Rhys as he was to her, not the reality of what he used to be. This entire thing, all of it, started to catch up to her, all in that instant. She had been through so much. Meeting a movie star. Her boss. Her band. The company. Dylan. The engagement. The house. Money. Almost dying. Watching Dylan bleed in her arms. People plotting against her. Her fiancé turning out to be someone she didn't think he was. She felt her body begin to weaken and she went to the bedroom, lying on the bed. She couldn't move. She broke down into sobs and let go of all the tension and stress she had been carrying. Rhys followed her in and had no idea what to do. He tried to comfort her but she just continued crying. He felt helpless. He knew what he had to do. He picked up the phone.

"Hey man. What's up?" Dylan answered.

"I need you to come by as soon as you can. Pearl needs you, and bring John." He said and hung up the phone.

Dylan said nothing for an hour, he just held her on the bed and let her cry. John talked to Rhys in the kitchen.

"There has been so much going on the last few months. And Pearl was just coming out of a fragile state when it all began. I don't blame you. I'm glad you two found each other. But this is a lot for anyone to just suddenly take on", John said, after Rhys filled him in on everything.

"I know. I don't want to lose her, John. I'll do anything to make this all ok. I know she's been though a lot. I want to take care of her."

"We all know that. She knows that." John said, patting his back. "We are all here to help you succeed."

Dylan walked into the kitchen. "She's asleep." He looked at Rhys. "I'm going to say this only once and I want you to listen to me. I was heartbroken when I knew I wasn't the man for her, when I knew you were the better man, the best man for her. I knew it the day you came to the hospital to talk to me. I will always love Pearl. She is the first woman I truly loved and the woman I gave my virginity to", Dylan's voice wavered slightly when he said that. "It's the hardest thing I've ever done. Letting her go. Being happy for you both. But I am and I will respect you and what you both have because my friendship with her is more important than any romantic feelings could ever be. That being said, if I ever see her in this state again, I will step in and take her away from this with every bit of strength I can give it. And my respect for this will be gone. I hope you understand what I am saying." Dylan was inches from Rhys' face. Rhys and John were a bit taken back. They didn't know about his virginity and neither of them had heard Dylan speak to anyone like that before.

"I understand." Rhys said.

"Good. Now where is this piece of shit Ian. We also have some talking to do." Dylan said as he left and headed to the guest house.