Page 67 of Secret Marriage To My Bosshole

“What is it?”

He sits up, his mouth opening and closing several times. “Somebody leaked the story about us to the media.”

“Who?” I sit up beside him, leaning into the headboard as my heart plummets to my feet. “The only people who know are your parents, Jake, and Sophie. Nobody else knows the truth about anything.”

"Clearly, someone thought payday and ruining our reputations were more appealing than keeping the secret."

“Sophie would never. Neither would Jake.” My tone is sharp as I take the phone from his hand to read the article.

There are photos of our intimate moments in his backyard, lounging in the sun. Other pictures of us kissing are further down in the article.

Headlines scream across the articles and gossip columns, detailing the scandalous love affair between the billionaire CEO of the prestige law firm and his assistant— ‘Assistant Marries Boss to Pay Off Debt – A Modern-Day Temptation or Calculated Move?’

There’s no doubt his parents had to have spilled the story.

My stomach turns, bile rising in my throat. I feel like I’m going to throw up as I hand the phone back to him so I don’t have to look at it anymore.

Griffin sighs and puts the phone on the bed, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t believe my parents would do this to me.”

I arch an eyebrow as I get out of bed and grab my short nightgown from the back of the bedroom door. “They did this to you?”

“Cora—”

“No, Griffin. This is an attack on me. Everything about that article portrays me in a negative light and makes you look like the innocent man who got tricked by a gold digger.”

Griffin gets out of bed and pulls on his shorts as I yank open the bedroom door. “Where are you going?”

“I need a minute to myself and figure out how the fuck I’m going to show my face at work again.”

“We can work through this together, and we will. You don’t have to go running off.”

The pleading look in his eyes tells me that he is desperate to believe his parents couldn’t have done this.

“No. I need time to think about what I’m going to do.” I step back when he reaches for me. “Please, Griff, this is my life, and I need time to figure it out.”

“Fine.” He steps back and shakes his head. I’m going to call my PR team and see what they say about this.”

I shrug and head for the stairs. “The story is already out there, Griff. It won’t die until bigger news comes along to replace it.”

As I make my way downstairs, tears roll down my cheeks.

I’m at a loss for how to face the office tomorrow morning and pretend everything is alright.

When I walk into work the next morning, Kaleigh is waiting at my desk. She leaps up from the chair and hurries toward me as everybody else stops working to watch.

I keep my head held high, even as my cheeks flame. “Hey.”

Kaleigh loops her arm through mine, towing me into her office and slamming the door shut. “We have a lot to talk about. Mainly, how good is the dick game? He looks like he knows his way around a woman’s body.”

I burst out laughing even though I feel like I should be crying. “I can’t complain.”

Kaleigh flashes a knowing smile and sits on the edge of her desk while gesturing to one of the chairs in front of it. “Please, have a seat and share with Dr. Kaleigh all the challenges you're facing right now."

I groan and set my tote on the ground. “I don’t know where to begin. We met with his parents, and their response was to publicly trash me online.”

“I could kick their asses for you.” Kaleigh crosses one leg over the other. “I mean that. I don’t care who they are. Nobody messes with my girl.”

My chest tightens as I shake my head. "You don't have to do that. Everything will be okay. Griffin may not want to believe his parents are behind this, but he'll uncover the truth eventually."

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