Chapter 7: Public Scandal
781 Words
Chapter 7: Public Scandal
The headline hit Ava like a slap.
**“Billionaire Lucas Herrera’s Marriage—A Lie?”**
Her hands trembled as she scrolled through the article.
Photos.
Clips.
Zoomed-in moments of her and Lucas—too stiff, too distant.
“They’re not even sleeping in the same room,” one source claimed.
“They look like strangers.”
Ava’s chest tightened.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
Lucas.
“I assume you’ve seen it,” he said coldly.
Ava turned to him.
“You said this wouldn’t happen.”
“I said we would manage it.”
“Well, we’re not managing it,” she snapped. “We’re failing.”
Lucas walked closer, his expression unreadable.
“The board is pressuring me,” he admitted. “If this continues, the merger is at risk.”
Ava laughed bitterly.
“So what? You want me to act more in love with you?”
Lucas didn’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then—
“Fine,” Ava said. “Then we do it right.”
---
The next event was different.
Very different.
As cameras flashed, Lucas didn’t just hold Ava’s hand—
He pulled her closer.
Too close.
His hand rested firmly on her waist, fingers pressing slightly as if claiming her.
Ava’s breath caught.
“Relax,” he murmured. “They’re watching.”
“I know,” she whispered back.
But this didn’t feel like acting anymore.
It felt real.
Dangerously real.
Someone approached them.
“You two look happier than ever,” a woman said with a smile.
Lucas glanced at Ava.
Then—
He brushed a strand of hair from her face.
Soft. Intimate.
Ava froze.
“Because we are,” he said smoothly.
Her heart pounded.
Because for a second…
She almost believed him.
---
A few days later, Ava met someone from her past.
“Marco?” she said, surprised.
Marco smiled warmly.
“Ava… it’s been years.”
He looked at her ring.
“So… you’re married now?”
Ava forced a smile.
“Yeah.”
They sat at a café, catching up.
Laughing.
Reminiscing.
For the first time in weeks, Ava felt… normal.
Until—
A shadow fell over their table.
Lucas.
His jaw clenched.
“Who is he?” he asked coldly.
Ava blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“I asked who he is.”
Marco stood.
“I’m an old friend—”
Lucas cut him off with a look sharp enough to silence him.
Ava stood up, anger rising.
“You don’t get to interrogate my friends.”
Lucas’s eyes darkened.
“I do when my wife is laughing with another man like that.”
Ava froze.
That tone—
That wasn’t part of the act.
“That’s not in the contract,” she said quietly.
Lucas stepped closer.
“Maybe I’m rewriting it.”
---
That night, Ava couldn’t sleep.
Her mind replayed everything.
Lucas’s voice.
His jealousy.
The way he looked at her.
“This is bad…” she whispered.
Because she was starting to feel it too.
Something real.
Something dangerous.
---
Meanwhile—
Lucas stood alone in his office, staring at nothing.
Marco.
The way Ava smiled at him.
The way she laughed.
Something twisted in his chest.
He clenched his fist.
“This is just a contract,” he muttered.
So why did it feel like he was losing something that was never his to begin with?
---
The tension finally snapped.
Ava stood in front of Lucas, frustration written all over her face.
“What is your problem?” she demanded.
Lucas didn’t answer.
“You act like you care,” she continued. “But then you push me away.”
Still silence.
“Make up your mind,” she said. “Because I’m not a toy you can control.”
That did it.
Lucas grabbed her arm—not harshly, but firmly—and pulled her closer.
“I don’t like seeing you with him,” he said.
Ava’s breath hitched.
“Why?”
Lucas hesitated.
That one second of hesitation—
It said everything.
Ava’s voice softened.
“Lucas…”
Their eyes locked.
Close.
Too close.
Her heart raced.
His grip loosened—but he didn’t let go.
And then—
He leaned in.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As if giving her time to stop him.
But she didn’t.
Their lips were inches apart—
When suddenly—
Ava turned her head.
Silence.
Heavy. Crushing silence.
“We can’t,” she whispered.
Lucas stepped back immediately, his expression hardening again.
“Right,” he said coldly. “The contract.”
But this time—
It didn’t feel like protection.
It felt like regret.
- Writer
