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Chapter 3: Damage Control
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2025-04-01 17:55:02Chapter 3: Damage Control
Sophie’s fingers trembled as she clutched her phone, her heart pounding against her ribcage. She stared at the blurry image of herself and Jake, splashed across multiple gossip sites like some sort of scandalous revelation.
"No, no, no..." she whispered, scrolling through the countless comments, speculations, and headlines.
HOLLYWOOD SWEETHEART SOPHIE CARTER SPOTTED LEAVING GALA WITH MYSTERY MAN! WHO IS HE?
A NEW ROMANCE OR JUST A ONE-NIGHT FLING? INSIDERS SPEAK!
Her stomach twisted. The world had caught on, and now it wouldn’t let go. There would be questions, assumptions, reporters stationed outside her home. She knew how these things worked; the media loved a scandal, especially when it involved someone like her—a picture-perfect actress with a spotless public image. And worse, she wasn’t prepared. Her head still ached from the hangover, and her emotions were tangled from the chaos of the past twelve hours. She ran a hand through her messy hair, feeling the weight of the mistake she had made, knowing she couldn’t take it back.
A loud knock on the bedroom door made her jump. “Sophie! Open up!” It was Mia, her assistant, her voice sharp with urgency.
Sophie quickly tossed her phone onto the bed and ran a hand through her hair before pulling the door open. Mia stormed in, phone in hand, her expression a mix of concern and frustration.
“Tell me you’ve seen the headlines,” she said, waving the screen in Sophie’s face.
Sophie groaned. “Yeah, I’ve seen them.”
Mia exhaled sharply. “Okay, so what happened? Who is this guy? Do we have a problem?”
Sophie sighed and plopped down onto the edge of her bed. “His name’s Jake. We met at the gala. We had a little too much to drink. One thing led to another... and now here we are.”
Mia’s eyes widened. “Wait. So you—?”
“Yes,” Sophie cut in, rubbing her temples. “We slept together. And now, apparently, the world wants to know all about it.”
Mia groaned, pacing the room. “This is bad, Soph. Really bad. Your brand is built on being America’s sweetheart. The media is already spinning this into something huge. Your publicist just called me five times in the last ten minutes.”
Sophie flopped backward onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. “I just wanted one night to feel normal. One night where I didn’t have to be Sophie Carter, Hollywood’s Golden Girl—just Sophie.”
Mia’s expression softened for a brief moment before she let out a long sigh. “I get that, but right now, we need to clean this up. Damage control. How do you want to play this? Do we deny, distract, or downplay?”
Sophie sat up, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t want to lie.”
“Well, we don’t have to give them the whole truth, either,” Mia countered. “We can just say you two are friends. That it was nothing serious. Or we could turn it into a cute dating rumor, ride the wave, and let it fizzle out.”
Sophie bit her lip. That was the problem with Hollywood—so much of her life was about spinning the narrative, controlling the optics. One wrong move, and it could cost her everything. But if she ignored it, the story would spiral out of control without her.
A sudden chime from her phone made her heart lurch. Another notification.
BREAKING: SOPHIE CARTER’S MYSTERY MAN IDENTIFIED AS JAKE MATTHEWS—A NOBODY OR A NEW STAR?
Sophie’s breath hitched. “They found him.”
Mia snatched the phone from her hands and read the article. “Jake Matthews. Apparently, he owns some little coffee shop downtown. They’re already digging into his past.”
Sophie’s stomach turned. She knew what happened when someone new entered the Hollywood spotlight. The press would dig up everything—his relationships, his mistakes, his family. And if there was nothing scandalous to find, they’d create something. The media was relentless, and if Jake wasn’t prepared for it, he was in for a rude awakening.
Mia looked at her. “Do you think he can handle this?”
Sophie exhaled. “I don’t know.”
Before Mia could respond, Sophie’s phone rang—an unknown number. She hesitated, then picked up. “Hello?”
A familiar voice came through the line. “Sophie. It’s Jake.”
She sat up straight, gripping the phone. “Jake?”
“I woke up to reporters outside my place,” he said, his voice edged with frustration. “I think we need to talk.”
Sophie squeezed her eyes shut. This was exactly what she had feared. Jake wasn’t from this world—he hadn’t been trained to deal with the media’s scrutiny the way she had. And now, he was caught in the crossfire because of her.
“Jake, I’m so sorry,” she said quickly. “I never meant for this to happen. I should have been more careful—”
He sighed on the other end. “Look, I’m not blaming you. But I just had to sneak out the back of my own coffee shop like a damn criminal. I’ve got reporters digging through my trash, Sophie.”
Her stomach clenched. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” she admitted. “We need a plan.”
Jake let out a dry chuckle. “A plan? Sophie, I run a coffee shop. I don’t do PR stunts.”
Mia, who had been listening in, motioned for Sophie to put him on speaker. Sophie did, and Mia immediately took over. “Jake, listen. We need to get ahead of this. If we don’t, they’ll make up their own version of events, and trust me, it won’t be flattering.”
There was a pause. Then Jake sighed. “So what do we do?”
Sophie exchanged a glance with Mia. There was only one way out of this. They had to face it head-on.
“We go public,” Sophie said firmly. “We control the story before it controls us.”
Jake groaned. “Public? As in, pretend we’re dating?”
Mia smirked. “Oh, honey. Not pretend. For now, you are dating.”
Silence hung between them. Sophie felt her pulse quicken as she realized just how messy things were about to get. But there was no turning back now.
“Fine,” Jake muttered. “But you owe me a hell of a lot of coffee for this.”
Sophie let out a nervous laugh. “Deal.”
And just like that, the biggest performance of her career had begun.
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