CHAPTER EIGHT: The Rumor Mill Explodes

We don't make it to Adrian's office.

The moment we walk through the mansion's front door, my phone explodes with notifications. Not buzzing. Not ringing. Exploding with sound and light and vibration until I have to silence it completely.

Lucian's phone does the same.

"What the hell?" He pulls it out, scrolls through messages. His face goes pale, then red, then expressionless. "They posted it."

"Posted what?"

He turns his screen toward me. The video from the warehouse parking lot. Someone followed us. Someone recorded us through the car window, captured the moment Lucian held my face, the way we leaned toward each other, the almost-kiss that stopped just short of contact.

The caption makes my stomach drop: CONFIRMED: Lucian Hayes and stepsister caught in INTIMATE moment. Full makeout session. This is actually happening. #Forbidden #ScandalOfTheYear #HayesFamily

"We didn't kiss," I whisper.

"Doesn't matter." Lucian's voice is flat. "They'll believe what they want to believe."

I scroll through the comments. Hundreds already. Thousands.

This is so gross

They're RELATED

Not by blood tho... is it wrong that I think it's hot?

Gold digger sleeping her way to the top

His dad JUST married her mom. This family is sick

Team Tiffany all the way. Aria needs to GO

My hands shake. "How did they find us? How did they know where we were?"

"Tracking apps. Social media location tags. Someone probably followed us from school." He grabs my wrist, pulls me toward the stairs. "Come on. We need to talk before my father finds us."

"Lucian?" Mom's voice stops us cold. She's standing in the doorway to the living room, her face confused and worried. "What's going on? Adrian's been trying to reach you both."

"We need a minute, Evelyn." Lucian's grip on my wrist tightens.

"Is it true?" She looks at me, and I see the question in her eyes. The fear. "The things they're saying online. About you two."

"Mom…"

"Are you involved with him?" Her voice cracks. "Tell me the truth, Aria."

The lie sits on my tongue, ready. Easy. But when I open my mouth, nothing comes out.

"Mrs. Hayes," Lucian says carefully, "what you're seeing online is exaggerated. Manipulated. They're making something out of nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing." Mom's eyes are wet now. "It looked like, like you were about to…"

"We weren't." The lie tastes like ash. "I promise, Mom. Nothing happened."

She wants to believe me. I can see it in her face, the desperate need to believe that her daughter isn't falling for her stepson. That this marriage hasn't created an impossible situation.

"Adrian is waiting in his office," she says finally. "Both of you. Now."

We follow her down the hallway in silence. Each step feels like walking toward an execution. My phone keeps buzzing in my pocket. More notifications. More comments. More people dissecting my life for entertainment.

Adrian's office is all dark wood and leather, expensive art on the walls. He sits behind a massive desk, fingers steepled, expression unreadable. When we enter, he doesn't invite us to sit.

"Close the door."

Lucian does. The click sounds final.

"I've been fielding phone calls for the past hour," Adrian says, his voice dangerously calm. "Business associates. Board members. Journalists. All asking about the same video."

Neither of us speaks.

"Do you have any idea what this does to the Hayes reputation? To our family name?" His eyes bore into Lucian. "I warned you. I explicitly warned you to control yourself."

"Nothing happened," Lucian says.

"Don't lie to me." Adrian stands, and the temperature in the room drops. "I see the way you look at her. I've seen it since the wedding. This obsession, this lack of control, it ends now."

"It's not an obsession."

"Then what is it?" Adrian moves around the desk, predatory. "Explain to me why my son can't stay away from his stepsister. Why you're risking everything for a girl you just met."

Lucian's jaw clenches. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

The silence stretches. I can feel Lucian fighting with himself, wanting to tell the truth about the mate bond but knowing it would make everything worse.

"I care about her," Lucian finally says. "That's all. I care about her, and I saw people hurting her at school. I reacted. That's it."

Adrian's laugh is cold. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe what you want."

The slap comes so fast I don't see it until Lucian's head snaps to the side. My gasp is the only sound in the room.

"You will respect me," Adrian says quietly. "And you will respect this family. Whatever you think you feel for her, it ends. Today."

Lucian's hand touches his cheek, but his eyes never leave his father's face. "No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no." Lucian's voice is steady. "You don't get to control this. Control me."

"I'm your father…"

"You're a man who married a woman you don't love for reasons you won't explain." Lucian takes a step forward. "You brought Aria into this house knowing what would happen. You knew about the bond, didn't you?"

My blood turns to ice. Adrian knows?

Adrian's expression doesn't change. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. You researched it. Planned it. You wanted this to happen." Lucian's hands are fists now. "Why? What's your endgame?"

"My endgame is protecting our family from scandal. From ruin." Adrian's eyes slide to me. "Aria, your mother is very fragile. She's been through tremendous loss. It would be unfortunate if the stress of this situation affected her health."

The threat is clear. Crystal clear.

"Don't you dare," I breathe.

"I'm simply stating facts. Evelyn has anxiety, depression. The medication she takes, the therapy sessions. All very delicate. All easily disrupted by stress." He smiles, and it doesn't reach his eyes. "I'd hate for her to suffer because of poor choices made by her daughter."

"You son of a…" Lucian starts forward, but I grab his arm.

"Don't." My voice shakes. "He's not worth it."

Adrian sits back down, satisfied. "Here's what's going to happen. Tomorrow, you'll both return to school. Lucian, you'll make it clear that the video was taken out of context. That Aria is nothing more than your stepsister. You'll be seen with Tiffany Monroe. Publicly. Frequently."

"Like hell…"

"Or Evelyn's medical care becomes much more complicated. Insurance issues. Prescription delays. These things happen." Adrian picks up a pen, returns to his paperwork. "Dismissed."

We don't move.

"I said dismissed."

Lucian pulls me from the office before I can say something we'll both regret. In the hallway, he leans against the wall, eyes closed, breathing hard.

"We'll figure this out," he says.

"How? He's using my mom as leverage."

"I know." His eyes open, and the fury in them takes my breath. "But I'm not giving up. Not on this. Not on us."

"There is no us. There can't be."

"Aria…"

"He'll hurt her, Lucian. My mom. The only family I have left. I can't, I won't risk her for this."

"So what? We just pretend? Go back to being strangers?"

The word strangers cuts deep because we both know it's impossible. But so is everything else.

"We have to try," I whisper.

My phone buzzes again. Another notification. Another comment. Another stranger with an opinion about my life.

I pull up the app, ready to delete it entirely, and freeze.

My locker. Someone posted a photo of my locker at school. Spray-painted across it in red: HOME-WRECKER. SLUT. GOLD-DIGGING WHORE.

Tomorrow is going to be hell.

And I have to face it alone.