6 : Scandal In The Headlines
491 Words
The morning light filtered through gauzy curtains, but Amelia’s peace was shattered by the shrill ring of her phone. She fumbled on the nightstand, still half-asleep, until she saw the screen flashing with her best friend’s name.
“Amelia, are you okay?” the frantic voice blurted the moment she answered.
Her brows knit. “What do you mean?”
“Check the news. Now.”
Dread coiled in her stomach. Amelia grabbed her tablet from the drawer, her fingers trembling as she opened the trending headlines. And there it was, splashed across every gossip site:
“Alexander Stone’s Secret Love: New Bride Already Replaced?”
Her throat went dry as she clicked the article. A series of glossy photos filled the screen—Alexander leaving a private restaurant the night before, Clara at his side. The camera had caught them too close, too familiar. The captions twisted the scene into scandal:
The cold tycoon’s new wife nowhere in sight.
Is Clara Weston the real Mrs. Stone?
Amelia’s stomach churned. She hadn’t even been married a week, and already, the world was painting her as a fool.
The bedroom door swung open. Alexander strode in, crisp and polished in a dark suit, a phone pressed to his ear. His tone was clipped, commanding. “Shut it down. I don’t care what it costs. No, I said now.”
He hung up, his jaw tight, and finally noticed Amelia clutching the tablet. Her face was pale, her eyes blazing with hurt.
“You knew this would happen?” she demanded, her voice trembling.
He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “Clara staged it. She wanted exactly this reaction.”
“And you just let her? You knew the cameras would twist it, and you still walked out with her?”
His eyes hardened, steel clashing against her fire. “I don’t need to explain my actions to you.”
Her chest tightened. “Of course not. I’m just the pawn in your game, remember?” She shoved the tablet onto the bed, her voice breaking. “But tell me this, Alexander—when the world laughs at me, when they call me weak and pathetic, does it bother you at all? Or do you enjoy watching me suffer?”
For a heartbeat, silence crackled between them. Then, in a low, dangerous voice, he answered.
“It bothers me more than you think.”
The words stunned her. His gaze lingered on her for a fraction too long, something raw flickering in his eyes before the mask slammed back into place.
“Stay inside today,” he ordered. “I’ll handle the press.”
He turned and left, his footsteps echoing through the penthouse.
Amelia sank onto the bed, her hands trembling. She didn’t know what was worse—the humiliation of Clara’s trap, or the fact that for a fleeting moment, she thought she’d glimpsed something human beneath Alexander’s ice.
- Writer
