I didn’t see the headline first.
I heard Caleb’s voice crack when he called my name from the hallway, a sound I had never heard from him before somewhere between a warning and disbelief, like he couldn’t decide whether to shield me or hand me the knife directly.
I was still buttoning the sleeves of my blouse when he pushed the door open without knocking, phone in hand, screen glowing like a flare no one could ignore, and the look on his face told me that the battlefield had shifted and this time, the war wasn’t waiting for me to step outside.
“It’s everywhere,” he said, voice low, strained. “Page Six. Fortune. Even Monroe International’s internal PR channel. It’s already being spun as an anonymous leak.”
I didn’t ask for the headline.
Because I already knew.
“ALICE MONROE: HEIRESS, H
