ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm



Our little lunch outing had quite an unexpected ending. The two men began talking about something related to the crowd in front of the building but what they said was lost to me as I began to worry more about Ace.

“I should get going. I’ll see you guys later,” I said as I took a step away from them.

“Right, good luck with your errand,” Jeremy said before flashing me a smile.

“Thanks,” I thanked him before turning to nod at Richard.

Without any hesitation, I turned and walked away from them and away from the office. I had no idea what was going on and I was scared, confused, and extremely worried. Despite all that, I realized that if Ace had bothered to give me a call while all this hell had broken loose, then the best that I could do for him was to follow his instruction and as soon as possible. I walked away as fast as I could as I controlled my urge to turn back and stare at our office building. My hand clenched around my phone tightly as I prayed for Ace to be fine. Although I was curious about why so many reporters were gathered in front of our office, I decided to bury my curiosity and walk away.

I was too worried that I didn’t quite remember anything in detail about my journey back to my place. The familiar scent of home filled my nostrils when I entered the room. After closing and locking the door behind me, I felt slightly better to be in a familiar environment. I had not heard from Ace since the call that he had given me, and my worries were quickly spiraling out of control.

After sitting down on my bed, I took out my phone and began browsing through the internet. If that many reporters were gathered, then something would have hit the news already. There must be something online that would at least give me a clue about what was happening. My hunch was right, and it took no time at all for me to find what I was looking for.

My face suddenly felt cold and numb as I rapidly scrolled through countless articles that featured pretty much the same news just written in different ways. The photos featured told me the whole story without having to read the entire article. Although it was not clear, the photos were definitely of Ace and Elizabeth getting out of the car together and then there were many photos of them entering Ace’s building. There were also other photos of them together that seemed to have been taken in secret by the paparazzi.

All the articles speculated that the two of them had rekindled their relationship with the photos as proof. The details even went as far as to describe their dinner dates and how he took her back to his place. If I wasn’t with them the night that those photos of them entering the building together, then I would have gotten the wrong idea about them too. Although the photos weren’t super clear, I could make out the same outfit that Elizabeth had on that night that Ace brought her back to his place with him after she had a fight with her father about the merger and her relationship with Kyle.

Before I knew it, I was clenching my teeth together and then a growl of frustration escaped from me. At least, this time, I was certain that it was all just a misunderstanding. However, I also knew that this news was nothing but trouble. I was sure that whoever wrote the articles had no idea what was really going on, but this was definitely a great story that would attract a lot of attention. All articles recapped their past relationship and their engagement before they finally decided to end it and call off their engagement. The buzz had all returned and every article speculated that the two of them would get engaged again.

Ace probably knew about this already and this must be the reason why he had ordered me to return to my place. I could definitely bet that Ace’s place was swarming with reporters right now as well. I sighed again when I realized that the average person would probably come to believe that the two of them were now back together if they saw these misleading photos. It was hard to believe that they were being stalked by the paparazzi but that was clearly the case.

It was a messy affair on top of all the troubles that we were already facing but I tried to tell myself that it wasn’t the biggest deal in the world. Ace just needed to come out and deny it along with Elizabeth and that would bring an end to it all. The most surprising thing that I found was that the articles seemed to disregard completely Elizabeth’s marriage to Kyle. He wasn’t at all mentioned and this new relationship between the Ace and Elizabeth wasn’t blatantly condemned as an affair.

I didn’t need to read between the lines to sense that many of the articles seemed to be cheering them on. Double standards really do exist, and for a moment, I started to feel anger boiling up inside of me. Although everything written in the article was far from the truth, it didn’t sit well with me how the article made it sound like every living soul on the planet thought that the two were perfect for each other and that everyone hoped that they would get engaged again and eventually get married. It didn’t seem to matter to them that Elizabeth was already married or that Ace wasn’t in love with her.

It's all just gossip for attention…

Even though I should have known that better than anything, I still couldn’t stop it from ruining my mood and causing me to worry. Time and time again, I told myself that it was just worthless gossip and there was absolutely no truth behind it.

--To be continued…

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