Breaking Point

I should have known something was wrong the moment I stepped into the building.

People were whispering in clusters near the elevators, eyes darting away the second they saw me. The usual morning buzz was still there, but it felt different. Thicker. Heavier.

Then my phone started vibrating like crazy.

Three missed calls from HR. Two messages from Mia, my only friend here.

And one link.

I opened it without thinking.

The air left my lungs.

There it was. A photo of me and Alexander. From yesterday. I was standing close to him in the hallway, handing him some documents, but the angle made it look like something else. My head tilted up toward him, his hand hovering near my shoulder, his face close enough to mine that it looked like he was about to—

I locked my screen before finishing that thought. My pulse thundered in my ears.

Another message buzzed in.
“It’s everywhere, Luna. Don’t go online.”

Too late.

Every site, every gossip feed had the same headline.
“Billionaire CEO Alexander Stone caught with new assistant.”

My knees went weak. I pressed myself against the nearest wall, trying to breathe, but the words wouldn’t stop echoing in my head. I didn’t even know how anyone got that photo. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

And yet it looked like I had.

The moment I reached my desk, people turned. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. My chest ached as I forced a smile and sat down like nothing was happening. But every time my phone buzzed, I jumped.

A notification flashed from an unknown number:
You really think he’ll protect you?

My fingers froze. I didn’t recognize the number, but I had a sinking feeling someone was behind this.

Before I could reply, his assistant appeared at my desk. “Mr. Stone wants you in his office. Now.”

The room tilted a little. Of course he did.

The elevator ride felt endless. My reflection stared back at me, pale and terrified. I wanted to believe Alexander wouldn’t think I had anything to do with it, but the voice in my head kept whispering otherwise.

The doors opened, and there he was.

He stood by the window, suit perfect as always, expression unreadable. His phone was in his hand, and the second he saw me, he put it down.

“Sit.”

The word cut through the air. I obeyed before I could think.

He didn’t speak at first. Just stared, eyes dark and sharp, like he was trying to decide what kind of person I really was.

Finally, he said quietly, “You saw it.”

I nodded. “I swear, I didn’t—”

“Don’t,” he interrupted, his tone low but controlled. “I already know.”

My heart lurched. “You… believe me?”

He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. For a second, the mask slipped. I saw exhaustion, anger, and something that looked dangerously close to concern.

“I don’t know who took that photo,” he said. “But whoever did wants a story. And they’re getting one.”

I hesitated. “What happens now?”

He looked at me then, really looked, and I forgot how to breathe.

“Now,” he said slowly, “we control the story before it controls us.”

The next few hours were chaos. HR meetings, PR calls, lawyers trying to fix what couldn’t be undone. Every minute that passed, another version of the story popped up online. The picture was edited, zoomed in, exaggerated with fake captions.

And through it all, Alexander never looked away from me.

Every meeting, every hallway glance, I could feel it—his focus, his tension, the way he was holding everything together by sheer force of will.

When the last meeting ended, he told everyone to leave. Except me.

“Luna,” he said quietly once the room was empty, “you need to understand something. Once this starts, it doesn’t stop. The rumors. The press. The judgment.”

I nodded, voice barely a whisper. “I can handle it.”

He tilted his head. “Can you?”

Something in his tone made my heart trip.

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I said, trying not to cry. “But I’m not going to run.”

His jaw tightened. He looked like he wanted to argue, but then he stepped closer, eyes searching mine. “You shouldn’t have to be this strong,” he murmured.

For a heartbeat, everything slowed. The noise, the lights, the chaos outside—it all disappeared. It was just him and me, standing too close in a world that suddenly felt too small.

Then his phone buzzed.

He checked the screen—and his face changed. His entire expression hardened like glass cracking.

“What is it?” I asked.

He didn’t answer. He handed me the phone instead.

Another headline glared from the screen.
“Leaked: Alexander Stone seen entering assistant’s apartment late at night.”

I blinked, confused. “What? That’s not true—”

He turned the phone toward me again. This time it wasn’t just text. It was video.

Grainy, low-quality, but clear enough to show a man who looked exactly like him walking into my building last night.

Except he hadn’t been there.

We both knew that.

I stared at the screen, stomach twisting. “This isn’t real.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “But the world won’t care.”

My throat tightened. “What are we going to do?”

He didn’t answer right away. His eyes met mine, and for the first time, I saw fear flicker beneath the surface.

Then he said, “Whoever did this isn’t after you. They’re after me. And they just declared war.”

Before I could respond, the office doors burst open. Alexander’s head of security ran in, face pale.

“Sir,” he said, breathless. “You need to see this. It’s not just photos anymore.”

Alexander stiffened. “What do you mean?”

The man swallowed. “There’s a full article dropping in ten minutes. It claims you and Miss Reyes have been having an affair for months—and it names a source inside the company.”

I felt the blood drain from my face.

A source. Someone close to us.

Alexander’s eyes darkened. “Who?”

The security chief hesitated. “It’s signed under an alias… but the attached ID trace leads back to someone in your executive team.”

The room went silent.

Alexander turned to me slowly, voice low but burning. “Luna, stay in my office. Don’t open the door.”

“Wait—where are you going?”

He didn’t answer. He just grabbed his phone, jaw tight, eyes like fire.

And as he walked out, I realized with a chill that this wasn’t just a rumor anymore.

It was a setup.

And whoever started it wanted to destroy us both.