Page 74 of Silver Fox's Christmas Scandal
The image was too blurry to make out faces, but the caption read,
Sources close to Cross Capital confirm CEO Lucian Cross has been involved in a months-long affair with a mystery woman. Full exposure coming soon.
I read the teaser paragraph three times, my hands shaking so badly I could barely hold the laptop steady.
They didn't know who I was yet, but they knew something was happening. The article promised "shocking details" and "exclusive photos" in their upcoming feature, and it made my head literally spin.
I got lightheaded. The screen blurred as tears filled my eyes.
And Jamie was sending this to me asking if it was me. Of course she'd ask.
That was my apartment building in that photo, even if no one would be able to make out my face.
It was all about to blow up and ruin everything and there was no stopping it.
Mochi jumped onto the couch beside me, nuzzling against my arm as if sensing my distress. I pulled him close, his purrs offering the only comfort I could find in the wreckage of my life.
This had been a bad idea from the beginning and I knew it. I'd known it every time I looked at him, every call, every kiss, every single time he whispered my name.
And I couldn’t stop myself. Saying no to him and cutting him off felt like cutting a part of my own heart out, and I just couldn’t do it.
It felt like we were intrinsically hooked to each other, that if I somehow stopped being with him, even in the shallow, basic arrangement of friends with benefits that we had, that I would cease to exist.
The exact messy, disgusting tangle of lives I hoped to avoid by planning IVF.
And I'd walked right into it.
And now I didn't know how to renege even if every cell in my body desired it. Which they didn't.
I was stuck, and it was going to hurt like hell.
22
LUCIAN
The conference room door slammed behind me with enough force to rattle the glass walls, but it wasn't nearly loud enough to drown out Daniel's voice echoing in my head.
Twenty years of friendship, two decades of building this company together, and he'd sat across from me with cold eyes and delivered Viktoria's poison to me like it was medicinal.
"The board is concerned about your judgment, Lucian. These rumors aren't going away, and shareholders are getting nervous. Maybe it's time to consider a temporary leave of absence while we sort this out."
Temporary. Right. Nothing was ever temporary when vultures circled.
My hands shook as I pulled out my phone, fury coursing through my veins.
Daniel Mercer, the man who'd stood beside me through every acquisition, every hostile takeover, every late night when we'd built Cross Capital from nothing—he was caving to pressure from my ex-wife.
Viktoria had him by the balls, and he was choosing self-preservation over loyalty. She couldn’t get to me by hersickening intimidation and threats, so she was threatening him too, and with the added pressure, she knew I'd cave.
I scrolled to Tessa's number without thinking, my thumb hovering over her contact. We usually met at the Marriott downtown, neutral territory that felt safer than my penthouse.
But tonight, I couldn't stomach the idea of another sterile hotel room, another hour stolen on the margins of my real life.
I wanted her in my bed and in my arms all night where she belonged.
The call connected on the second ring.
"Hey." Her voice was soft, cautious. She could read my moods better than anyone. I didn't call her unless it was absolutely necessary, favoring texts as an easier form of communication, but I was livid.
