Why all this negative stuff now? Merely a week away from the grand launch of the villa, the pinnacle of The Sweet Life brand and important tribute to its inspiration.

And that’s all those quotes had been—inspiration. It wasn’t—couldn’t be—considered plagiarism, could it? Not when it was just some dumb stuff scribbled in an old journal.

Maybe it was just sour grapes? Or this person was just fishing. Much like the social media haters and trolls she’d become accustomed to over the years.

This was something more, though, Kim knew it in her bones. This was escalating.

A few negative comments here and there were par for the course with a social media presence of her size, and especially since the book was published and she became more visible in the media.

There was also somewhat of a general backlash against the so-called “Influencer” concept now, and lots of bad press and shady dealings. But Kim hadn’t done anything wrong.

Had she?

A sickening tug in her gut brought her back to reality.

OK, so she had co-opted some of those quotes in the journal, turned them into social media captions and then subsequently sold this so-called wisdom on to others.

But she’d never intended it that way, had never set out to deceive or (she cringed at the word) plagiarize. And it was really Antonio and Emilia that had taken the whole thing to another level. Didn’t that count for something?

A thousand thoughts raced through her mind as she drove and she reached the station before she knew it. She stayed in the car, waiting for Gabriel to call when the train pulled in.

Kim closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat, lifting it up to the warm sun. If it went any further and the truth came out, it would ruin not only next week’s launch but perhaps even the entire brand.

A potential suit meant her book would be pulled from the shelves. The big-brand collaborations she’d worked so hard to cultivate would automatically cut ties. Her business and livelihood would be gone.

What would Gabriel think when he discovered she’d been keeping this from him throughout their entire relationship? On top of the awful truth about how she truly felt about being a mother.

Despite Antonio’s advice, there was no way she could have a full and frank conversation with her husband about that.

Not now.

“He’d never forgive me,” she muttered out loud, unbeknownst to herself.

“Who’d never forgive you?” Gabriel’s smooth voice appeared in her ear then and Kim jumped in her seat. Her husband laughed as he jokingly raised an apologetic arm in the air, their three-year-old’s hand held firmly in the other as they both grinned at her.

“Mommy!” Lily cried out with a big toothy smile.