BETRAYED BY LOVE RUINED BY CHOICE

trending for the wrong reasons

By 8am I was trending.

#GoldDiggerVale

#DrayceScandal

#TeamDerek

My face. In red. Being kissed by Caelen in a hallway.

1.8M views. 40k comments.

And Maya’s caption: _“some girls never learn #poorlittleVale”_

I threw my phone across the penthouse.

It hit the glass wall and cracked.

“Don’t,” Caelen said from the kitchen. Calm. Too calm.

He was making coffee like the world wasn’t burning.

“Don’t what?” I snapped. “Don’t panic? My mom’s getting death threats, Caelen.”

“I already had security sent to her house,” he said. “And Frank.”

Frank. The hardware store guy. Mom’s boyfriend.

Of course Caelen knew his name.

I sank onto the couch. “This is your fault.”

“This is Maya’s fault,” he corrected. “She’s been waiting 5 years to do this.”

He handed me a mug. Black. No sugar. Like he remembered.

“Drink.”

I didn’t. “Why are you so calm?”

“Because panicking is what she wants,” he said. “And because I have a plan.”

“Your plans got me here.”

He set his mug down. Hard. “My plans also paid your mom’s hospital bills last month.

And kept the bank from taking your house.

So you’re welcome.”

That shut me up.

The doorbell rang.

Caelen didn’t move. “It’s Derek.”

“How do you—”

“Cameras, Seren.” He nodded to the corner. “I see everything in this building.”

Derek was on the screen. In the same suit. Hair a mess.

Eyes desperate.

“Don’t let him in,” I said.

“Your choice,” Caelen said. “It’s your penthouse too now.”

I stared at the screen. At Derek. The man who proposed on a beach.

The man who disappeared the next week with the company money.

I hit the buzzer.

He burst in like he owned the place.

“Seren! Thank god. Are you okay? Have you seen what she posted?”

“I’ve seen it,” I said. “What do you want, Derek?”

“To help,” he said. “I called a lawyer. A PR team. We can spin this.

Say you were coerced. Say Caelen threatened you.”

Caelen laughed from the kitchen. “Please. Try it.”

“Stay out of this,” Derek shot back. “This is between me and her.”

“No,” Caelen said. “She’s mine now. Remember the contract?”

“It’s void,” Derek said. “She told me. You kissed her. Clause 3.”

I closed my eyes.

Caelen walked over. Stood right in front of Derek.

“You want to talk contracts?” he said. “Let’s talk about the one you signed

when you embezzled 14 million and ran. I have it.”

Derek went pale. “You wouldn’t—”

“Try me,” Caelen said again. That was becoming his favorite line.

Derek turned to me. “Seren, please. Don’t let him do this.

We had something real.”

“We had debt,” I said quietly. “And lies.”

The doorbell rang again.

This time it was Maya.

In sunglasses. Holding iced coffee. Like she was here for brunch.

“Wow,” she said, looking around. “Nice place, Cae.

You always did have good taste. In apartments. And in girls.”

Her eyes landed on me. “Hi Seren. Love the shirt. Is it his?”

“Get out,” I said.

“Make me,” she said. Again.

Caelen moved so fast I didn’t see it.

He had her by the arm in 2 seconds.

“Touch anything in my house and I’ll have you arrested,” he said.

Maya didn’t flinch. “You can’t. I’m press.

And I have a story to file. _Drayce Heir Holds Vale Heiress Hostage._”

Caelen dropped her arm. “You’re not press. You’re a blogger with 10k followers.”

“10k that are watching right now,” she said, holding up her phone. Live.

Hi guys. I’m at Caelen Drayce’s penthouse. With Seren Vale and Derek Hale.

Dramaaaa.”

200 viewers. Then 2,000.

“End the stream,” Caelen said.

“Or what?” Maya smiled. “You’ll kiss her again?

Oh wait, you already did.”

I snapped.

I grabbed her phone and smashed it on the marble floor.

The screen shattered.

The room went silent.

Maya looked at me. Then at Caelen. Then laughed.

“Oh this is GOOD,” she said. “Assault. Property damage.

See you in court, Seren.”

She walked out.

Derek ran after her. “Maya wait! We can use this—”

And then it was just me and Caelen.

And the broken phone on the floor.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Don’t be,” Caelen said. He looked... proud? “That was the first smart thing

you’ve done all day.”

He crouched. Picked up the pieces.

“Come here.”

He pulled me to the window. The whole city below us.

“See that?” he said. “All of them are watching.

So we give them a show.”

He turned me to face him.

Hands on my waist.

And he kissed me.

Not soft. Not sweet.

A statement.

For the cameras we didn’t have.

For Maya.

For Derek.

For the whole damn internet.

When he pulled back, my lips were burning.

“Now they’ll really talk,” I whispered.

“Let them,” he said. “By tomorrow, they’ll be talking about our wedding date instead.”

My stomach dropped. “What?”

“Clause 3 is broken,” he said. “Contract’s void.

So we do a new one. Real marriage. Real vows.

I clear the debt. You get protection.

And Maya can choke on it.”

He stepped back. “Think about it.

You have until midnight.”

He walked to his room. Closed the door.

I was left alone in a 10 million dollar penthouse.

Trending for being a homewrecker.

With a proposal and a deadline.

My phone buzzed. Cracked screen.

Unknown number.

_“Run, Seren. Before he ruins you too. -D”_