Chapter 4
667 Words
Leaked Lies and Late Nights
The headlines hit just after sunrise.
THORNE’S ENGAGEMENT A COVER-UP? INSIDER CLAIMS FIANCÉE IS BEING PAID TO STAY
Leona blinked at the article, the words burning into her vision.
The story wasn’t vague. It had quotes. Descriptions. Even an anonymous source claiming “a financial arrangement” existed between her and Elias.
Her blood ran cold. She hadn’t told anyone—no one except Margo, who would rather die than sell her out. Which meant someone in his circle had spilled.
And they wanted this to explode.
Elias wasn’t answering his phone. Of course he wasn’t.
Leona paced the small living room of her apartment, still barefoot, hair a tangled mess from sleep—or lack of it. She’d barely closed her eyes before the world decided to spin out.
Her phone buzzed again.
MARGO:
You okay? I saw the article. Want me to burn something down?
LEONA:
Tempting. But I have a better target in mind.
Thorne Enterprises loomed like a polished fortress, all glass walls and ruthless edges. Leona walked in unannounced, ignoring the startled receptionist and heading straight to the executive elevator like she belonged there. Because today? She did.
The doors opened to Elias’ floor.
His assistant, a sleek woman named Darcy with ice in her veins, stood up immediately. “Miss Vale, I don’t believe you have—”
Leona didn’t stop. “I’m not here for a mint or a smile.”
She pushed open the double doors.
Elias was mid-call, jaw tight, tie loosened, hair slightly ruffled like he’d been dragging his hands through it all morning. His eyes locked on her the second she walked in.
“I’ll call you back,” he said into the phone, then hung up.
“I take it you’ve seen the article,” Leona said, folding her arms.
“I have.”
“You going to ask if I leaked it?”
“No.”
That stopped her. “No?”
He stood, walking around his desk, voice calm but lethal. “If you were going to ruin me, Leona, you’d do it in person.”
Their eyes locked.
“So who was it?” she asked. “Vivienne?”
“Possibly. Could also be someone from my father’s camp.”
“Lovely family you’ve got.”
“You married into it, sweetheart.”
She bristled. “We’re not married.”
He moved closer. “Yet.”
Her pulse jumped for half a second. Just long enough to piss her off.
“I want this contained,” she said. “I didn’t sign up to be dragged through the mud so your reputation could look cleaner than it is.”
He exhaled. “We’ll spin it. I’ll handle the press. You just need to—”
“No.” She stepped in, face close now. “We handle it. Together. If I go down, so do you.”
Something flickered in his expression. Not fear. Not anger. Something else.
Respect.
“You’re not what I expected,” he said softly.
“And you’re exactly what I expected.”
They stood there in tense silence. The kind that felt like it might tip into something else if either of them blinked.
Then Elias stepped back.
“I’ve got a plan.”
“I’m listening.”
He walked to his desk, grabbed a thick file, and handed it to her. “We’re going on a PR tour. Appearances. Interviews. Soft smiles. A few moments of orchestrated intimacy. The works.”
Leona flipped through it, raising a brow. “You want me to kiss you on national television?”
“Only if you mean it,” he said, half-smiling.
She tossed the folder on his desk. “Careful, Thorne. You might start believing the lies you tell.”
And as she turned to leave, he called after her.
“I don’t lie about everything, Leona.”
But she didn’t ask what part was true.
Because she wasn’t ready to find out.
- Writer
