6
613 Words
If hell had a waiting room, it would look exactly like this flashes popping, microphones shoved in my face, and strangers yelling my name like I owed them money.
I’d barely stepped out of my shop that morning when the world exploded.
“Carina! Over here!”
“Smile for us, sweetheart!”
“How long have you and Mr. Novell been seeing each other?”
I froze on the sidewalk, my tray of cupcakes trembling in my hands.
“What what are you talking about?”
A reporter shoved his phone at me, screen glowing. And there it was.
The headline.
EVAN NOVELL ANNOUNCES NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH LOCAL BAKERY OWNER.
Photo: Evan with his arm wrapped around me in his office, his mouth far too close to mine.
I almost dropped the cupcakes.
That conniving, manipulative, suit-wearing devil.
By the time I stormed into Novell Tower for the second time that week, I was ready to commit murder.
He was waiting for me, of course, leaning casually against his desk like he hadn’t just detonated a bomb in my life.
“You ” I slammed the article down in front of him. “What the hell is this?”
Evan didn’t even flinch. “News.”
“News?” I sputtered. “This is fraud! You can’t just announce we’re together!”
“Why not?” he asked smoothly. “It’s not a lie.”
My jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”
His eyes glittered with amusement. “You feel it. Every time I touch you. Every time you look at me and try to convince yourself you don’t want me. So no, Carina, it’s not a lie.”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw something. Preferably his thousand-dollar watch.
Instead, I pointed a shaking finger at him. “You’ve ruined my life.”
“You mean I’ve given you an empire.” He pushed off the desk, closing the distance between us. “Do you know what’s happening right now? Reservations at your bakery are sold out for the next three months. Orders are flooding in. You’re trending.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Check your phone,” he murmured.
Against my better judgment, I did. And sure enough notifications. Hundreds. Thousands. People begging for cupcakes, offers for interviews, influencers tagging my shop.
My knees wobbled. Not from excitement. From rage.
“You used me.”
His smile was infuriatingly calm. “No. I exposed the truth. And made you a household name in the process.”
“Evan, this isn’t a game!” I snapped. “This is my life, my business my reputation!”
“Exactly,” he said softly, pinning me with that gaze. “And now the whole city knows your name. You should be thanking me.”
I glared at him, chest heaving. “You don’t get it. You can’t control me. You don’t own me.”
He leaned closer, his breath hot against my ear. “Don’t I?”
My heart stuttered. My stomach flipped. And I hated myself for the shiver that betrayed me.
By the afternoon, it was official.
Every news outlet, every gossip page, every social feed they all had the same story:
Novell and DeLuca. The city’s hottest new power couple.
And somehow, I couldn’t stop staring at the pictures.
The ones of him looking at me like I was the only woman in the world.
The ones where my eyes gave me away, betraying the very thing I swore I’d never admit.
Desire.
God help me.
Because the more he pushed, the closer I came to breaking.
And if I broke, I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover.
- Writer
