THE LINE CROSSED
1022 Words
The Line Has Been Crossed
The sound of his name being shouted from across the hallway barely registered.
Yannis stood in the glass-walled corner of his office, the morning sun streaming in—but there was a storm behind his eyes. He was staring at the screen on his phone. Unmoving. Jaw clenched.
A tabloid article.
One that had been sent to him by five different people in the last ten minutes.
Katie's face.
Her name.
The words "mistress," "affair," and "homewrecker" blazing across headlines like fire on dry grass.
The photo—that damn photo. From the bachelorette party. She looked happy. Wild. Free. And now, that joy had been twisted into a weapon.
"Yannis," Adrian burst through the door, phone in hand. "You saw it?"
Yannis didn't answer. He was still too quiet. Too still.
Adrian slowed, voice dropping. "This wasn't an accident. Someone leaked it. Someone went after her on purpose."
Yannis finally looked up. His voice was cold steel. "Do we know who?"
Adrian hesitated. "We're tracing the media contact. But we both know who had access to that video."
"One of the girls."
Yannis's hand tightened around the phone until the screen cracked under the pressure. He hadn't even known about the video being sent out. He hadn't known that someone would turn their heartbreak into a public execution.
But now he did.
He was breathing hard now—barely holding the leash on himself.
"She just got out of the hospital," Adrian said quietly. "And now this? She doesn't deserve this, Yannis. Not like this."
"You think I don't know that?!". Yiannis snapped.
Adrian moved closer, lowering his voice. "What are you going to do?"
Yannis didn't even blink. "Burn it all down."
There was a beat of silence.
And then: "Start with the law firm. If anyone there leaked her suspension letter, I want them fired before lunch."
Adrian nodded.
"Get my lawyers on the defamation lawsuit. Anyone who published this—sued. Anyone who shared it internally—fired. Anyone who thinks this will end her—destroyed."
"Yannis—"
"I don't care anymore!" he thundered. "They came for her. They dragged her name, her body, her soul through the mud like she wasn't even a person."
His voice cracked.
Adrian stepped back, watching him with something close to awe and fear.
"She's not the villain," Yannis muttered, more to himself now. "I am. I'm the one who couldn't stay away. I'm the one who lost control. I'm the one who—"
He paused. Breathed.
"I'm going to her," he said, grabbing his coat. "Right now."
Adrian followed him to the door. "And Milly?"
Yannis stopped in the doorway.
Eyes dark.
Voice low.
"Milly and I are over
⸻
The street in front of Katie's apartment was a madhouse.
Reporters. Flashing cameras. A cluster of photographers elbowing one another for the perfect shot. Microphones shoved into blank space as if she might magically appear.
Yannis pushed past them like a storm cloaked in Armani, ignoring their calls:
"Mr. Kyrkos, is it true you've been having an affair with your fiancée's best friend?"
"Is she inside?"
"Did she break up your engagement?"
"Where is Katie?"
That last one hit a nerve. Because he was wondering the same thing.
He got to her door and pounded once—twice. Nothing.
"Katie!" he called.
No answer.
He used the key he had forced her to give him in case of emergencies. With his hand shaking slightly, he unlocked the door. It swung open easily.
And he stopped.
The apartment was empty.
Not "out grabbing coffee" empty. Not "went for a walk" empty.
Gone empty.
Drawers were open. Her favorite cardigan tossed across the back of the couch. The bed unmade, but the wardrobe half-cleared. There was a note on the kitchen counter, left behind like an afterthought.
He rushed to it.
Katie's handwriting.
Yannis—
I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye. I didn't have a choice. My parents came for me.
My family saw the headlines. They sent the plane. Forget about me.
His jaw clenched as he read the last line again. Then again.
Forget about me.
He dropped the note like it burned.
Adrian appeared behind him in the doorway, breathless. "Yannis—the press is losing it. They think you're here to confess."
"She's gone," Yannis muttered.
"What?"
"She's gone," he repeated, his voice suddenly hollow. "Her family came for her."
Adrian looked around the apartment, realization dawning.
"Where did they take her?"
"I don't know. Probably back to her family's estate" Yannis grabbed the note again, rereading it like there might be a hidden code. "She didn't say."
Adrian exhaled, pacing. "This means it's going to be difficult to reach her. The estate has heavy security. So what now?"
Yannis stared out the window, past the cameras and flashing lights. Past the headlines and the chaos. Past the city that never stopped watching.
"She asked me to forget her". he said slowly. "This can't end like this. I won't allow it".
Adrian nodded, unsure.
Then Yannis turned toward him, eyes dark, voice like thunder. He wanted revenge. He wanted to punish those responsible for putting Katie through such an ordeal.
"Did you find out who leaked the story?". Yiannis asked.
"Yes, Alina. She had help from Hana". Adrian told him.
"Im going to make them wish they were never friends with her in the first place.
"Yiannis, let's think this through. Please. If Katie is with her family that means she is safe".
"She is safer with me". He retorted
"Now you are just being selfish". Adrian hissed.
"I don't care!." Yiannis snapped.
"Fine Yiannis, burn it all to the ground then and risk loosing Katie even more".
"You don't get it." Yiannis voice broke.
"I do, but this is not the way. I do agree that Alina and Hana need to pay for this but is that something Katie would want?"
"Even if it's not what she wants, it's what she deserves. Justice. So I'm going to burn the entire f***ing world until she has no reason left to hide."
- Writer
