The press was everywhere now.
Ava couldn't walk into a café without hearing her name whispered behind steaming cups of coffee. Headlines spun like roulette wheels: Wolfe's Mystery Girl, Gold-digger or Genuine?, The Rise of Ava Morgan. Blah blah blah.
But nothing could have prepared her for what waited outside the boutique that morning.
She had gone alone, a mistake she wished , she never made .
Just a short step of freedom while Damien took a call with his lawyers. She'd wanted to feel normal again. But the moment she stepped out of the shop, sunglasses on, the cameras pounced.
And then came the voice.
"I know her better than anyone. She played me too."
Ava froze.
No.No.No
Not him.
"Marcus?" she whispered.
He stood just beyond the cluster of reporters, disheveled and smug, wearing a tattered leather jacket like a poor man's crown. Cameras turned on him like bees to honey.
"I was with her for three years," Marcus announced, voice carrying like a knife. "Supported her when she had nothing. And now? Now she's with Damien Wolfe. Tell me that's not gold-digging 101."
Flashes went off.
"She's manipulative, fake, she always wanted the easy way up," he sneered. "She dumped me the moment I wasn't useful anymore."
Ava felt those words pierce through her like sword , her stomach twisted. "That's not true," she said, her voice barely audible over the shouts.
"Oh?" Marcus raised an eyebrow, stepping closer. "Tell them how you begged me to help you get a better job, how you latched onto every man with money in the room. Don't play innocent now, Ava. Damien's just your latest paycheck."
She wished the grounds would open and swallow her.
Security stepped in fast, but the damage had already bloomed. Cameras kept clicking. Her face flushed with humiliation, even as she tried to keep it together.
"I have nothing to hide," she said quietly, turning toward the crowd. "But if you're interested in the truth, ask Marcus why he showed up now, after years of silence, after I paid off his debts."
Gasps.
Marcus's face stiffened. The press turned toward him, hungry for more.
Ava stepped into the waiting black car and slammed the door.
***
Back at the penthouse, she stood trembling by the window, arms wrapped around herself. Damien entered moments later, his expression thunderous.
"I saw it," he said. "The moment it aired."
"I didn't see it coming," she whispered.
"I did," he muttered, pulling off his coat. "I should've predicted it. I should've protected you better."
Ava shook her head. "This isn't your fault. He's just... part of a life I thought I'd left behind."
Damien approached her carefully. "He called you a gold-digger in front of the world. Do you want me to shut it down?"
She looked up, fire glinting beneath her pain. "No. Let them talk. I'll survive it."
but truth be told, she was tired of surviving.
Damien's gaze softened. "You shouldn't have to."
Something in the air shifted. The storm between them grew quieter,but heavier.
"He was wrong about one thing," she said after a moment. "You're not my paycheck. You're the price I never expected to pay."
Damien didn't respond.
He just watched her, like he was seeing her all over again.
Something building up in his heart. He couldn't place it, but he could feel it, getting so... real.