My phone won’t stop vibrating.
I know it’s bad before I even look.
It’s 6:12 a.m. The sky outside my apartment is still gray. I barely slept after Victor’s call. My head feels heavy, like I’ve been underwater all night.
The phone buzzes again.
Mara.
Three missed calls from an unknown number.
And then I see it.
A link.
Subject line: You need to see this.
My stomach drops before I even open it.
The headline hits me like a slap.
CEO’s New Favorite: Gold-Digger Fights for Fortune
There’s a photo of me walking out of the building yesterday. Ezra behind me. The angle makes it look like I’m leaning into him. Like we’re something. Like I’m clinging.
The article is worse.
It says I manipulated my way into Galen Holdings after years of “financial instability.” It calls me a gold digger
