LOGINBRANDONThe moment I stepped out of the conference room, I loosened my tie and kept walking without looking back. Reporters were still shouting my name behind me, but security quickly blocked them from following as my secretary hurried to keep up with my pace."Sir," she called, matching my stride as we entered the executive hallway. "I've already started looking into the accounts responsible for the smear campaign against Mrs. Langford."I stopped so abruptly that she nearly walked into me. "Already?"She nodded and held her tablet against her chest before speaking again. "I didn't wait for instructions because the timing was too suspicious, and I thought it would be better to move before anyone had the chance to delete evidence.""Tell me what you found.""We traced several of the first fake posts to newly created accounts," she said. "At first they looked unrelated, but they all interacted with each other within minutes, pushing the same story until the larger blogs picked it up."
BRANDONEvery camera in the room was pointed at me before I even reached the podium. The flashes came one after another without stopping, turning the conference hall into a sea of white lights while reporters shouted my name from every direction.My secretary stepped beside the podium and placed a folder in front of me before quietly asking if I needed anything else. I looked at her, gave a single nod, and she immediately understood it was time to begin.She adjusted the microphone and looked toward the reporters filling the room."Mr. Brandon Langford is ready to take your questions."The room erupted immediately. Dozens of hands shot into the air while voices overlapped one another, each reporter trying to be heard before everyone else."You in the front," my secretary said, pointing to the first journalist.The man stood up with a notebook in one hand and a recorder in the other. "Mr. Langford, is Langford Pharmaceuticals affected by the recent rumors surrounding your personal life
BRANDONThe shouting didn’t stop the moment we stepped inside the building. The glass doors muffled the noise from outside, but I could still hear people yelling through them as eggs and bottles continued hitting the entrance behind us.I kept my body between Thalia and the doors until we were several steps into the lobby. Only then did I lower my arms and turn to look at her properly.Blood had trickled from the cut beside her eye and stained the side of her face. The sight made my jaw tighten because just a few minutes earlier, I had walked over thinking the biggest problem I had to solve was convincing her to attend a press conference with me.“Let me see it,” I said as I stepped closer. “You’re bleeding.”She wiped at the cut with the back of her hand and looked down at the blood for a second before brushing it off like it didn’t matter.“It’s fine.”“It isn’t.”Without thinking, I reached for her shoulders and gently pulled her toward me. My only intention was to check the injury
THALIA After Olivia and Knox left, my apartment became quiet and for the first time all day, I thought I might actually get some rest. I changed into comfortable clothes and settled onto the couch with a blanket over my legs. A reality show played on the television while I absentmindedly scrolled through my phone, paying more attention to the contestants arguing than anything happening in my own life. For a little while, everything felt normal. Then my phone buzzed. I barely looked at it at first because notifications had become a constant part of my life lately. The second buzz came almost immediately after the first, followed by a third, and then a fourth. My forehead creased as I reached for the phone. The notification count attached to my name made absolutely no sense. I clicked on it. The moment the page loaded, I sat upright. “What the hell is this?” I muttered as I stared at the screen. The article displayed my picture beside Clara’s and Brandon’s like we were part o
THALIAOlivia and Knox had decided to invade my apartment today without asking for permission. At this point, I had accepted that neither of them respected boundaries whenever they thought I needed company.Olivia was sprawled across my couch with her phone practically glued to her hand. Knox stood near my kitchen counter stealing snacks from my cupboard like he paid rent there.“This internet thing should honestly be studied,” Olivia said as she shook her head at her screen. “People are genuinely insane.”I sat with my legs folded underneath me and sipped my tea. “What are they saying now?”Olivia groaned dramatically before handing her phone over. “Take a look.”I glanced at the screen and immediately saw hundreds of comments under another article about Brandon. People were dragging his name through the mud. And I, clearly, was depicted as the pitiful wife of the year.I handed the phone back to her. “People will do anything for a trending story.”Before anyone could continue the c
BRANDONI drove straight to my parent’s house after leaving Thalia’s place because I honestly didn’t know where else to go anymore. Everything was falling apart faster than I could fix it, and for the first time in a very long time, I needed someone to tell me exactly what to do.I barely stepped inside the house before I realized coming here had been a mistake.My mother was already standing in the living room waiting for me, and before I could even greet her, her hand connected with my face with a loud slap that echoed through the room.I immediately grabbed my cheek and stared at her in complete shock. “Mom, what was that for?”“How dare you?” she snapped, her eyes blazing with anger. “How dare you drag this family into this kind of scandal and then walk in here acting like nothing happened?”I blinked several times, trying to catch up with her anger. “What are you talking about?”She scoffed and folded her arms tightly across her chest. “Now I understand why Thalia is so determin
THALIAI stood there staring through the peephole for several seconds, hoping that if I waited long enough Brandon would somehow disappear.The doorbell rang again.Then came a heavy knock.Then another.I groaned and dragged a hand down my face."What is wrong with this man?" I muttered.The knock
THALIAThe awkwardness after Brandon and Clara left didn’t disappear immediately.For the next few minutes, the table kept trying too hard to get back into the mood. Conversations overlapped louder than before, people laughed a little too quickly at jokes that weren’t that funny.Olivia, thankfull
THALIAI looked away first because I didn’t want to stay looking. I had no interest in whatever reason brought them here, and pretending otherwise felt easier than acknowledging it.I still felt it anyway.Clara’s gaze.When I turned slightly, she was already watching the table. Her eyes moved acro
THALIAI cleared my throat, still slightly overwhelmed by the noise of the club and the attention from earlier, and forced a small smile.“Thanks,” I said.Adrian nodded once, his expression calm but warm in a way that still made it hard to look away for too long.“Congratulations again,” he said.







