𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐓 | #𝟏 ✔️

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

" internet sensation. "

SIX DAYS SINCE the incident.

I thought things were over and Marzanna had left for good.

God, was I fucking wrong.

Because the second my eyes had latched themselves onto an article online with two very familiar names, I knew I was fucked.

'Vincero's CEO Rainer Morelli and Secretary Aurelia Emberlyn's Alleged Relationship Sparks Controversy in the Fashion Industry'

Everybody knows Vincero. It's the most luxurious designer brand that sells anything you could ever look for, the only problem is, it's only for the richest of the rich.

So when the news came out that said luxury brand's CEO is in a secret relationship with his secretary, what the fuck did the world think?

Many hurtful things.

Our "professional" relationship is now titled a "scandalous love."

I desperately enter Rainer's name into the Google search bar, followed by the word 'secretary' and the results shock me.

Thousands of articles and press agencies talking about our relationship. In a span of 24 hours, the number of people who knew about us grew from seven to more than six million.

"No, no, no.. Fuck!" I yell out, hitting my computer screen as my breath catches in my throat, anger preventing it from going to my lungs.

My eyes water with tears and I bring my hands up to my head, shaking it slowly as I grip onto my hair. The only words that are able to leave my mouth are repetitive fuck's and small no's.

The sound of footsteps increases and wood creaks under a familiar person's weight. I don't even bother turning my head to look at them but I immediately know who it is.

"Ari.." Salem's voice fills my ears and I bite down on my bottom lip, trying to contain my sobs. I can see her starting to approach me in my peripheral vision and it doesn't take long for her to hold me in my embrace.

She sits behind me, her elbows resting on my shoulders as her arms wrap around my neck, holding me tight and comfortably. The warmth she radiates makes me want to burst into tears, but for some reason, I can't.

Rather than sad, devastated tears, something sets on fire deep inside of me. Something inside of me that I swore to keep there, that I never let escape unless it was the needed times.

Something that I can just tell is going to break me if I let it out.

"Sal.." I say, clearing my throat and resting on my chin on her arms. I feel her nod on my back, her thumb caresses the back of my neck and I lean slightly into her touch.

I bring a hand up to my face, carefully wiping away the tears by letting it soak into my sleeve so as to not ruin my makeup. And within seconds, I've already composed myself as if nothing had happened.

Salem hums behind me and I can already sense the confused look on her face when she pulls away to lay on her side. She rests the side of her head on a folded arm, looking up at me with scrunched eyebrows.

"Are you okay, babe?" She asks.

"No, I'm not sure." I simply say, my eyes are glued onto the screen as I look through the articles one by one to find some kind of information on who did it.

Who was enough of a pussy to expose our relationship?

My mind muffles Salem's voice, focusing on nothing but the music that I play in my head as I scroll through each and every site.

So far, nothing found, turns out all of the articles are just gossip and personal opinions that I couldn't care less about. Or maybe, a tiny bit.

Salem and I both know this day will end with me sobbing in her arms in her bed.

It's when I'm closing all of my open tabs that I realize there's a name on one of the articles I had looked through that I didn't notice.

"Marzanna Bianchi, the CEO's college girlfriend, confirms."

I could sob.

"That bitch! What did she say?" Salem exclaims, getting up and sitting next to me before taking a peek at my computer. She goes back to the main page, pressing a few buttons on my keyboard before picking a random article.

Salem squints her eyes, moving the cursor around before turning the laptop at an angle to read better.

"The CEO of Vincero, the top 1 luxury brand for the last 20 years, Rainer Morelli has just now been revealed to be in a fake engagement with his secretary, Aurelia Emberlyn." She pauses.

"Not only is she his secretary, but also one of the seven daughters of the one and only King Triton of the Seven Seas as well as the CEO of Decaris."

They know about my father too.

"Marzanna Bianchi, ex of the CEO, confirms that the engagement was only done for the purpose of pleasing his parents and it had also come with a sex contract between the CEO and secretary. Bianchi states that Emberlyn had apparently seduced Morelli into this contract, but confirmation statements are still yet to be made from either person."

Salem turns her head to me, parting her lips to speak but she doesn't say anything. I nod, looking at her with eyes that are filled with an emotion I can't understand.

Should I be sad? Mad? Or maybe, happy that the secret is out and we don't have to hide anymore?

For fucks sake, these news could be the reason for us to hide even more.

"Continue." I mutter.

She nods, turning her head back to the computer and running her fingers over the trackpad.

"Though, that's not all. Along with the information on Emberlyn, Bianchi also unravels Morelli's past during his days in an Italian high school and college and how he 'studied women more than his lectures' according to Bianchi."

My heart drops to my stomach and I gasp, placing a hand over my agape mouth.

I can sense the hesitance in Salem's voice as she continues. "Bianchi reveals, along with text evidence, that Morelli had confessed his undying love for her and how he plans on leaving the dirty secretary."

I scoff. "Wow. The dirty secretary. Is that who I'm going to be now?"

Salem harshly shuts the laptop, snapping her head to look at me. I avoid her gaze, chuckling to myself and I'm caught off guard when she grabs my chin and forces me to look at her.

"You're not going to listen to a single word they say, Ari." She whispers, her voice calms me and returns my breathing back to normal for a short period of time.

I shake my head. "It's all true though, Sal!" I exclaim and she pulls me closer to her until our faces are inches away from each other.

"It's not. You're more than that, my love." She reassures me, bringing up her hand to cup my cheek while the other does the same. Her thumbs caress my skin softly and I feel like I could melt into her touch.

"Why don't I take you to Rainer's place and you two talk it out? Figure out your plans, yeah?"

I nod eagerly, looking at her with desperate eyes that say I need to see him. And I do.

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