Chapter 9: The Leak
445 Words
The article dropped at 6am.
"BILLIONAIRE AIDEN CROSS IN FAKE MARRIAGE SCANDAL. PREGNANT CONTRACT WIFE EXPOSED."
Photos of me at the gala. Photos of the contract on Vanessa’s desk.
My name. My mom’s hospital bills. Everything.
My phone exploded. Reporters. Calls. Messages.
Aiden burst into my room. He looked furious. Not at me. At the world.
“Don’t read it,” he said. “Don’t look at the comments.”
“Too late,” I whispered. “They’re calling me a gold digger. They’re saying I trapped you.”
Aiden grabbed my face gently. “Look at me. None of that is true. You saved my niece and nephew. You saved me.”
“But the contract—”
“Screw the contract.” His voice broke. “I don’t care about the merger. I don’t care about the company. I care about you. And the twins.”The boardroom was ice cold.
Twenty suits stared at me like I was dirt on Aiden’s shoe.
And maybe I was.
Aiden stood at the head of the table. No smile. No warmth. Just the CEO they all feared.
“This meeting is about the leak,” he said. “Not my wife.”
“Your fake wife,” Mr. Carter snapped. “You lied to us. To the press. This scandal will cost us the merger.”
“Then lose it,” Aiden said.
The room went silent.
I couldn’t breathe. He was throwing away a billion-dollar deal. For me.
“Mr. Cross, think about the shareholders,” Vanessa cut in from the door. She wasn’t supposed to be here. “Think about your company.”
“I am,” Aiden said. He looked at me. Only me. “I’m thinking about the woman who took care of my family when I couldn’t. The woman carrying my future.”
He walked to me and took my hand in front of everyone.
“She’s not a contract. She’s not a scandal. She’s Zuri. And she’s mine.”
Mr. Carter slammed his folder. “If you go through with this, you’re out as CEO.”
Aiden squeezed my hand. “Then I’m out.”
He turned and pulled me out of the boardroom.
Behind us, the door shut on his old life.
In front of us, I had no idea what came next.
But I had him. And that was enough.
He pulled me into his arms right as another notification popped up.
Board meeting. Emergency. They wanted him to resign.
Aiden kissed my forehead.
“Let them fire me. I choose you.”
For the first time, the cold CEO was gone.
Only my husband was left.
- Writer
