Page 251 of Invisible Bars
Aaliyah’s post, bright and bold across the top of the gossip blog:
“Imanio Kors Left Me Pregnant—Now He’s Pretending I Don’t Exist”
Underneath it was a grainy,oldphoto of us together outside a studio, and a cropped ultrasound—no name, no date… just a blurry image of manipulation.
Naji blinked slowly. Her jaw clenched, then released in a controlled breath.
“W-wow,” she exclaimed, as she processed. “She really chose insanity today.” Then Naji leaned in slightly, reading the handle of the account that posted it.
Her brow lifted.
“But wait… that’s not her page,” she pointed out. “Look—it’s one of those fake gossip mashups. The kind that steal content, repost mess, and stir drama for clicks.”
I didn’t say anything at first—my silence spoke loud enough.
Naji turned to me, frowning. “Y-you still think it’s her behind it anyway, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Yeah. This got her fingerprints all over it.”
“Delusional dummy… D-list duck… drama-drenched discard…”
I let out a dry laugh, but it didn’t reach my chest. My grip on the phone tightened.
Naji scoffed. “So she’s not just d-delusional, she’s sneaky too. Using burner accounts now?”
“Ignore it,” I replied, clearly anything but calm. “I didn’t want you to see this shit… not before I handled it.”
Naji pulled the sheet up like modesty mattered now—like I hadn’t just had her screaming my name against the headboard.
“She’s desperate and banking on people believing it because y-you used to sleep with her.”
“Used to,”I repeated bitterly. “Used to when I didn’t give a fuck about anybody but myself… before you. She wants attention, and she picked the loudest way to get it.”
“And the most pathetic,” Naji added, with a slight roll of her eyes. She studied me, then added, “Are you worried p-people will believe it?”
I hesitated.
“Not the people that matter,” I finally replied, “But I need this shut down… like ASAP.”
Right on cue, Saroya’s name flashed across my screen.
I answered the call with a low, almost dry, “Yeah,” ready to dive into the conversation that would hopefully put an end to the gossip swirling around me.
Her voice came through sharp and fast, layered with fury.
“Do you know this woman?! If so, who is she? What’s your past relationship with her?! I need full disclosure—I mean everything, Imanio!”
The headache was coming fast—one of those that started behind the eyes and ended with a fist to the jaw.
I exhaled through my teeth and broke it down—calm, direct, no fluff. Saroya listened in silence, but I knew her brain was already ten steps ahead.
“This is a direct hit,”Saroya said when I finished. Her tone had shifted—strictly business now.“You need to get in front of it. We craft your response tonight, press conference tomorrow! Let’s move!”
“Aight.”
I hung up before the back-and-forth could start. No use arguing with someone who had my reputation in her hands.
Naji chuckled, nudging my pride just a little.
