The Rumors Get Worse
1130 Words
By Wednesday morning, the entire company had accepted one fact:
Something was happening between Caleb Morrow and Elara Voss.
Nobody knew exactly what.
But people were talking.
Constantly.
Elara heard whispers the moment she stepped off the elevator.
“She’s the one from the articles.”
“I heard he personally approved her promotion review.”
“No, apparently they knew each other before this.”
The rumors followed her through every hallway like shadows.
By lunchtime, she was exhausted.
“This is officially becoming unbearable,” she muttered while dropping into the chair across from Priya in the staff lounge.
Priya looked completely entertained. “I disagree. This is premium corporate drama.”
Elara grabbed a bottle of water and glared at her. “You’re enjoying my suffering far too much.”
“You kissed a billionaire CEO on a balcony in front of photographers. What exactly did you expect to happen?”
“A little privacy maybe?”
Priya laughed. “You lost privacy the second Caleb Morrow started looking at you like you invented oxygen.”
Elara nearly choked on her drink.
“That is an insane sentence.”
“And yet accurate.”
Before Elara could respond, several employees suddenly walked into the lounge, immediately lowering their voices after noticing her.
One woman offered an awkward smile.
Another stared openly.
Elara sighed heavily. “See? This is exactly what I mean.”
Priya’s expression softened slightly now. “Okay, serious question. Are you alright?”
Elara hesitated.
That was becoming the problem lately.
Every emotion involving Caleb felt complicated.
Attraction.
Guilt.
Curiosity.
Tension.
Nothing about him felt simple anymore.
“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly. “Everything keeps moving too fast.”
Priya leaned forward slightly. “Do you trust him?”
The question caught her off guard.
Because strangely…
Yes.
That was the terrifying part.
Before Elara could answer, her phone buzzed beside her plate.
A message from Caleb.
Come upstairs when you finish lunch.
Priya immediately groaned dramatically. “This man really treats you like the female lead in a billionaire romance novel.”
Elara ignored her and stood quickly. “I hate both of you.”
“You absolutely do not hate him.”
Unfortunately, that was becoming harder to deny.
The executive floor was unusually quiet when Elara arrived.
Caleb’s assistant smiled politely before opening his office doors for her.
“He’s waiting inside.”
Of course he was.
Elara stepped into the office slowly.
And instantly noticed Caleb looked irritated.
Not calm.
Not unreadable.
Actually irritated.
That alone made her nervous.
He stood near his desk holding a tablet while sunlight spilled across the room behind him.
“You wanted to see me?” she asked carefully.
Caleb looked up immediately. “Close the door.”
Her pulse quickened slightly.
She obeyed.
The second the door shut, Caleb tossed the tablet onto the desk.
Elara frowned. “What happened?”
“Someone leaked information to the press.”
Her stomach tightened instantly.
“What kind of information?”
Caleb looked directly at her.
“Personal information.”
A cold feeling settled in her chest.
He handed her the tablet.
And there it was.
Another article.
But this one felt different.
More invasive.
The headline read:
FROM UNIVERSITY ENEMIES TO SECRET LOVERS? INSIDE CALEB MORROW AND ELARA VOSS’ PAST
Elara’s eyes widened in horror as she skimmed through the article.
Somehow, reporters had uncovered details from Hartfield University.
The jokes.
The public humiliation.
Even the fact that Caleb dropped out shortly afterward.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
The article painted her like a cruel rich girl who mocked a poor student before he became successful.
Which technically wasn’t entirely false.
“This is bad,” she said quietly.
“Yes.”
She looked back up at him. “Who leaked this?”
“I’m finding out.”
Something cold rested underneath his calm voice now.
Protective.
Dangerous.
And somehow, that made her chest tighten even more.
Elara placed the tablet down slowly. “People are going to think you’re humiliating me for revenge.”
Caleb’s expression darkened slightly.
“Is that what you think?”
“No,” she answered immediately.
The honesty surprised both of them.
Because despite everything, despite the history and tension and confusion surrounding them…
She didn’t believe Caleb would intentionally destroy her.
A quiet silence filled the office.
Then Caleb walked toward her slowly.
“You know what annoys me most about this?” he asked quietly.
Elara shook her head slightly.
“They think I care about petty revenge.”
His eyes stayed locked on hers.
“As if I spent seven years building an empire just to hurt one woman.”
Heat rushed into her chest unexpectedly.
Because the truth sounded far more dangerous.
He built all of this for himself.
Not for revenge.
Not for validation.
And somehow that made him even more powerful.
Elara looked down briefly. “People already hate me online.”
“They’ll survive.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
Caleb studied her carefully. “You’re shaken.”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“No.”
She laughed softly despite herself. “Right. Because you’re emotionally terrifying.”
A faint smile almost appeared on his face.
Almost.
Then his expression shifted again.
More serious this time.
“You shouldn’t read the comments.”
Too late.
Elara already had.
Thousands of strangers analyzing her appearance, her past, her intentions.
Gold digger.
Manipulator.
Social climber.
The internet had created entire versions of her life within hours.
“It’s strange,” she admitted quietly. “Back at university, I cared too much about people’s opinions.”
Caleb leaned lightly against the desk. “And now?”
“Now I’m realizing strangers can decide who you are without knowing anything real about you.”
For a moment, Caleb simply looked at her.
Then he spoke softly.
“Welcome to my world.”
The quiet honesty in his voice hit harder than expected.
Because suddenly she understood something.
Caleb had probably spent years being judged.
First for having nothing.
Then for having everything.
And somehow, through all of it, he learned how to stop caring.
“I’m trying,” she admitted.
His eyes softened slightly.
“I know.”
The room became quiet again.
Dangerously quiet.
Then Caleb stepped closer.
Close enough to completely disrupt her breathing once more.
“You asked me something earlier this week,” he said softly.
Elara looked up carefully. “What?”
“What I wanted from you.”
Her heartbeat quickened instantly.
Caleb’s gaze dropped briefly toward her lips before returning to her eyes again.
“And I think,” he said quietly, “you already know the answer now.”
- Writer
