MadisonAlexander leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "Give her a call now. I want this started immediately." "I can call her later when I'm back at my desk," I replied, shifting in my chair. "Why aren't you asking your own team to handle this? Why Hazel specifically?" His lips quirked into a half-smile. "I've already given the task to my team. Hazel would be additional support. Sometimes, outside perspectives catch things professionals miss. Your friend found those articles before my entire PR department did." "Okay, fair point." I paused, curiosity getting the better of me. "So, who's the person behind these articles? You mentioned you identified them." Alexander's eyes gleamed with something that looked suspiciously like amusement. "I'll keep that information to myself for now. After we get Hazel's collection and confirm my suspicions, I'll reveal all." He leaned back in his chair. "In the meantime, you can keep thinking about who it might be." "So you want to tort
MadisonMonday mornings always felt like the calm before the storm. I arrived early, settled at my desk, and dove into work before the usual office chaos began. The Manhattan Project was picking up speed, and my to-do list had grown exponentially over the weekend. I reviewed the latest architectural renderings, taking notes on potential issues. My mind kept drifting to Katherine Sinclair. After discovering who she was, I'd spent the entire weekend debating whether to ask Alexander about her directly. "Just focus on work," I muttered to myself, tapping my pen against the desk. Would bringing up Katherine make things awkward between us? Or worse, would it reveal feelings I wasn't ready to confront? Our arrangement was complicated enough without adding emotional baggage. A knock at my door interrupted my thoughts. "Good morning, Miss Harper." Herbert Hayes stood in the doorway, briefcase in hand, looking every bit the seasoned professional in his navy suit. "Mr. Hayes, welcome." I
MadisonHer fingers flew across the keyboard as she navigated through several comments."Oh, this is juicy," she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "According to this post from two months ago, Katherine is dating a CEO in London. And not just casually, like, seriously dating.""How reliable is that information?" I tried to keep my voice neutral despite the strange relief washing over me."Pretty solid. Several people confirmed it in the comments." Hazel scrolled down further. "Only a couple saying it's fake news. Oh, and get this—she's not just some trophy girlfriend. She runs her own fashion retail empire and some luxury business ventures. Started from scratch.""Impressive," I murmured, trying to picture the woman from the photo as a business mogul rather than just Alexander's ex."If this gossip is true," Hazel said, closing her laptop with finality, "then Katherine won't be coming back into Alexander's life anytime soon. You can relax.""I wasn't worried," I lie
MadisonI stared at Hazel, considering her question. What's the worst that could happen? Alexander could fire me. Or laugh in my face. Or realize I was jealous, which I definitely wasn't. "I haven't thought about asking him directly," I admitted. "Maybe I could casually mention Katherine's name and see how he reacts." "That's what I'm saying!" Hazel clapped her hands together. "Just drop it into conversation naturally. Like, 'Oh, I met someone named Katherine today at the coffee shop. Isn't that funny?'" "You think that would work?" "Worth a shot." Hazel nodded, stretching her arms above her head. "Just remember, some men get weird when you bring up ex-girlfriends. Like, nuclear meltdown weird." "What do you mean?" "Some men are strange creatures," Hazel explained, shifting to face me directly. "They'll talk about sports statistics from 1987 but mention an ex, and suddenly they've got amnesia. My ex would literally leave the room if I brought up his college girlfriend." "Really
Madison"You think you can find Katherine without a last name?" I asked, leaning closer to see her screen. "There must be thousands of Katherines in the world." "Oh, sweet summer child." Hazel cracked her knuckles dramatically before typing her password. "You underestimate the power of gossip networks." Her Discord app opened to reveal at least twenty different servers with names like "NYC Elite Tea," "Billionaire Watchdogs," and "Rich People Problems." "How many of these gossip groups are you in?" I asked, eyes widening. "Enough to know things I shouldn't." She clicked into a server called "Manhattan's Finest Mess" and started typing in the search bar. "Katherine... Knight... Alexander..." Results started populating immediately. "See, there might be lots of Katherines," Hazel explained, scrolling through messages, "but there are only a few Katherines connected to New York's elite circles. If she dated Alexander Knight, she'd be in here somewhere." She switched to another serve
MadisonI slid into the cab, grateful to finally be done with work for the week. Friday night's freedom felt especially sweet after the week I'd had juggling two roles at Knight Industries while trying to ignore the lingering questions about Alexander's past. As the cab pulled into traffic, I leaned back against the seat and pulled out my phone. Before I could stop myself, I opened a browser and typed "Katherine Knight Industries" into the search bar. Nothing relevant appeared. I tried "Katherine Alexander Knight girlfriend" next. Hundreds of results popped up, but none seemed connected to Alexander. Just random Katherines and Alexanders from across the world. Without a last name, this was pointless. I could ask Caroline. She clearly knew more about Katherine than she'd let on. My finger hovered over Caroline's contact. No. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Caroline would use my interest against me somehow. I deleted the search history and shoved my phone back into my purse. Twenty min