Chapter3
1274 Words
ARIA
By the time I came out of the elevator the next day, the building felt off. The staff looked at me a
little too long and conversations abruptly stopped when I passed by them. Unfortunately, I knew
why they all gave me that look.
My phone vibrated in my pocket for the fifth time. I didn't need to check my phone to know that
my mother had already seen the headlines:
"Office Romance? Leo Hallway and Ex-Fiancée Caught in an Intimate Moment."
They say it like the whole situation wasn’t just a mistake. Why would I ever want to be in
his arms?
I kept walking and ignored all the looks they sent my way.
Leo’s office door was already open and as usual, he was on a call, his voice clipped and
dominant. The moment his eyes met mine, he ended it without so much as a goodbye.
“Close the door.”
I did.
“You’ve seen it?” he asked.
I nodded. “Half the city’s seen it.”
He nudged a tablet across the table to me. It was a high resolution picture of us in a
compromising position.
The picture looked so off-putting I had to turn my gaze away because in truth, it reminded me too
much of how we used to be.
"Someone is trying to cause trouble and I don’t like it," I said, pacing around his office.
"They obviously had help, don’t you think?"
"Let me guess," I said, not even surprised at this point. “You think I did this?”
His face didn't betray any emotion. "I believe you have a motive."
I laughed in disgust. "Motive? Leo, I can hardly afford the Wi-Fi in my apartment.".
"Well, that didn’t stop you from walking out of our wedding five years ago."
My throat closed up. "We're really doing this?"
"You're the one who came back."
“And you’re the one who hired me!” I countered.
I stepped forward, my voice steady. "You think if I wanted to ruin you, I'd do it by posting a picture
that makes you human for once?"
That hit its mark because I noticed a c***k, no matter how small, on his expressionless face.
He didn't answer, he just stood slowly, walking around the desk until he was once again close to
me. The air between us became tense, suffocating even.
"I'm watching you," he said to me. "Your every move, your every step."
"Then maybe watch a little harder. You might see I'm not the enemy."
The door opened before either of us could take things further.
Eliana stood there, her tablet in hand, with a smile that spoke volumes of the fact that she hated
my presence here.
Remember, Aria. You’re doing this for Mom, I thought to myself.
She looked between the both of us and finally spoke. "The crisis team are holding out for
confirmation. Should they deny or deflect the rumours?" she asked, her gaze flicking between us.
Leo didn’t move. "Neither of them."
"What?" Eliana said in disbelief.
He turned to her. "We don't say anything."
Eliana's lips parted in shock. "That'll just fuel it and make everything worse."
"I know," he replied.
Aria, stop it, I told myself.
But I didn't.
"You're letting them control the story," I said.
His eyes flashed with anger. "No. I'm reclaiming it."
By lunchtime, the internet had worked its magic. Conspiracies, fake quotes, a twenty-second
TikTok clip of us shuffling down the corridor to some melancholy pop song. The comments were
brutal.
"She looks too desperate to be his type."
"He's just playing with her. Wait and see."
"Isn't she the one who ghosted him? She's got balls."
I closed the app.
At the corner of the room, Kade plopped into the chair beside my desk with a muffin and zero
care for personal space.
"You know," he said, peeling off the paper, "you're more famous now than when you dumped my
brother."
I gave him a saccharine grin. "And isn’t that absolutely fabulous?"
He returned my smile.
"Need a security guard to the bathroom?"
I shot him a dry look.
His grin widened, "Relax Aria I'm kidding, Kind of, Eliana's is having a nervous breakdown
downstairs, by the way."
"Why?"
"She volunteered herself to do the press circuit and Leo told her she couldn't."
My brows rose. "He didn't pick her?”
" Nope." He leaned in closer. "Guess who he picked."
“Who?” I asked. Kade gave me a look and I blinked. "You're joking."
He plunked the muffin onto my desk. "Pack a dress. You're going with him tonight."
Shit.
___________________________________
The gala room was all glass and chandeliers and white marble. The PR team were already in full
swing when we arrived, swooping down on Leo with lighting instructions and rehearsals.
I stood awkwardly in the corner of the room, just waiting for something to happen.
"You're early," he said, stepping beside me.
"You invited me."
He looked at me. Like really looked.
I had borrowed a navy blue dress from a college friend, something simple and clean. My hair was
tied back but I knew I looked nothing like the girl he once kissed with smudges of paint on her
cheekbones and dreams in her eyes.
"You'll stay close. Say nothing at all except you’re spoken to," he instructed me.
"And if they ask why I'm here?"
"Tell them the truth." He paused. "You work for me."
The rest of the evening was a blur.
Cameras flashed. Reporters called out his name and the people in the room smiled too brightly,
trying to flatter him.
At one time, I ventured out onto the terrace, leaving the main floor behind to get some air.
But he followed me.
"You don't have to be here," I said, crossing my arms to shield myself against the cold.
"I'm not," he told me. "I just didn't feel like being in there anymore."
I faced him. "So you feel like being here?"
He didn't answer right away.
"You hurt me," he said finally, low and deadly. "You broke something in me I didn't know could be broken."
"I didn't have a choice—
"There's always a choice," he said, cutting me off.
“No Leo, not when my mother is dying, not when the only way to pay for her care is leaving
your future behind and hoping he hates you enough not to turn around."
The words spilled out before I could stop myself.
He stared at me, his breath caught in the cold air.
"I didn't want to hate you," he said, his voice almost a whisper. "But you made me loathe your very
presence."
I swallowed. "Then maybe you shouldn't have hired me."
His eyes darkened. "Maybe I hired you so I wouldn't forget how much you hurt me."
______________
As the night came to a close, Leo made a short speech — controlled, skillful, without heart.
Later, we left together, a staged action for the press.
The drive was silent.
Until he spoke.
"Who do you think leaked it?"
"I don't know," I told him.
His jaw tightened. "Then find out."
"What?"
"I gave you access to it all. My calendar. My files. The comms team. You're clever. Use it."
He didn’t say what he really meant.
I knew he just wanted me to prove I wasn’t the one behind it.
—-------------------
At my flat, I curled up in bed with my mother's soft breathing next door and the city lights
pressing in from the blinds.
I pulled my laptop onto my knees.
And I started digging.
- Writer
