Chapter Six:Headlines and Wounds
757 Words
The next morning, the office was louder than usual.
Phones rang twice as fast. Assistants whispered over shared screens. Even the printers sounded frantic, like they knew something was coming before anyone said a word.
Amara noticed it the moment she stepped off the elevator. Eyes glanced her way, then darted back down. The hum of conversation stuttered when she passed by.
Something was off.
She made her way to her desk and woke up her monitor. As the homepage loaded, her breath caught.
There, it was—front and centre on every major finance site:
“The Blake Legacy Returns: Ex-Fraud Mogul’s Daughter Seen Working Inside Vale International”
Underneath was a grainy photo—taken from outside the building. Her. On her phone. Lucien is standing beside her. The angle made it look too familiar, too intimate.
Her stomach dropped.
Not because it exposed her name. Not because of the photo.
But because now the whole world knew she was his daughter.
Dominic Blake’s.
And that made her a liability.
Before she could react, Lucien’s door opened.
“Inside,” he said curtly.
No good morning. No look of concern. Just steel in his voice.
She walked in slowly, closing the door behind her. Lucien stood by the window, arms folded, gaze fixed on the city like it might answer for what had just happened.
“So,” he said without turning, “you want to tell me why my inbox is flooded with board members asking if I’ve lost my mind?”
Amara stayed silent.
“I took a chance hiring you,” he continued, voice lower now. “Do you know what this headline looks like? Nepotism. Scandal. Another Vale power move wrapped in bad judgment.”
Her chest tightened. “I didn’t leak anything.”
Lucien turned to face her. “You think I care who leaked it? This isn’t about a headline. This is about trust. And reputation.”
She met his gaze. “You knew who I was when you brought me in. You used it against me.”
“I didn’t put it on a silver platter for the press.”
“Neither did I!”
Their voices echoed in the room, sharp and tangled.
A beat of silence followed. Then softer, more bitter:
“Do you think I wanted this?” Amara asked. “To be dragged into your world like some tabloid pawn?”
Lucien studied her, and for the first time, there was something like hesitation in his expression. Like he didn’t quite know what to say.
Amara’s voice cracked, just slightly. “I worked to disappear. I’ve spent years making sure no one knew my name. But now... now I’m just a scandal headline. Again.”
Lucien walked toward her—slow, careful. His tone was different now. Low. Quiet.
“I’m not blaming you, Amara.”
She looked up, surprised by the shift.
“I just needed time,” he added. “To figure out how to protect both of us. But the press moved faster.”
He reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a folder, and handed it to her. Inside were press statements, legal responses, a pre-written letter to investors distancing Vale International from Dominic Blake’s crimes.
“You planned for this?” she asked.
“I plan for everything,” he said simply. “Especially storms I know are coming.”
She looked at him then—really looked. The tailored suit. The controlled tone. The man who never left anything to chance. For the first time, she understood something vital.
Lucien Vale didn’t trust people.
He managed them.
“I need you to disappear for a few days,” he said. “Let it blow over. No interviews. No comments. I’ll handle the board.”
Amara stared at him. “You’re sending me away?”
“I’m protecting you.”
Her voice lowered. “You don’t trust me to stand beside you.”
Lucien’s jaw tensed. “It’s not about trust. It’s about strategy.”
“Right.” She nodded slowly, hurt settling somewhere deep behind her ribs. “Because I’m just another move on your board.”
She turned to leave.
“Amara.”
She paused, hand on the doorknob.
“I didn’t plan on you,” he said. “But I’m not letting this destroy you.”
For a second, everything was still.
Then she walked out.
No reply. No goodbye.
Just a woman caught between who she was running from… and who she might be becoming.
- Writer
