Page 33 of Surprise Baby for My Enemy Billionaire

I know that this is about the Stawarskis and a knot ties in my stomach as I march to Hayley’s office.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I have a feeling that the Stawarski brothers would have an airtight campaign team, one with no frauds in it. This could be fake news.

But, then again, thinking thatcould be a sign that I am still reeling from being fucked by a Stawarski.

Hayley is sitting behind her desk when I go into her office. She has a smile on her face. “Have you seen the news?”

“About Theodore Stawarski?” I ask, but don’t wait for her to answer. “Yes.”

“Good.” She is beaming with glee. “Find out all you can about this and write an article on it. We need to do it before other blogs and news media get on it.”

I pause, thinking of Brandon and the evening we shared together. I think of how I’d started to accept that I mighthave gone too far in trying to drown his brother’s campaign because I hated him.

“We can’t write about this.”

Hayley’s smile disintegrates. “What do you mean?”

I clear my throat, thinking fast. Was there anything I could say to my boss to make myself sound even a little coherent? “We can’t publish an article without sufficient proof. And all of this is just hearsay. We can’t go on that.”

Hayley raises her brows. “Gigi, you’ve written articles about them on far less. And youstood in that spot only weeks ago, convincing me that this was the best thing to do for the magazine.” She leans over her table. “Well, I believe you now. This isthe best thing for the magazine, and all our readers are waiting for your snotty take on this. Make an entertaining article out of it and call it an op-ed. Go write it now. And I’m not asking.”

I stare at her. There’s a determined look on her face that I rarely ever see.

I sigh. If I were in the right headspace, maybe I’d have stood my ground and debated her.

But then, I was too messed up thinking about Bran. I was too messed up trying to get myselfback.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Hayley says. “But I didn’t say anything when you abruptly stopped writing about them. This news has fallen into our laps and a lot of our competitors would be dying to write something about it. We need to get there first. I want the article up in an hour.”

I nod tightly.Maybe this is a blessing, I tell myself. Maybe writing shit about the Stawarskis will make me remember how I feelabout them.

“What was that about?” Danielle asks when I return to my desk. “Does she want us to publish an article?”

“Not us. Me.”

Danielle grins. “Your favorite pastime, huh? Maybe he’ll send twotrucks of flowers this time.”

I ignore her and turn back to my laptop. It takes me an hour to do some quick digging and type up a sly piece about Bran and Theo. But, for the first time since writing about them, I don’t feel excited. This isn’t fun.

My hands tremble as I upload the article on theEnchantéwebsite. I think of Brandon, of howI was becoming convinced he was a good guy.

But then, I think of Andrea’s words.

He needed something from you.

An emotion I cannot name stabs me.

Well, I need something now. To move on.

I press the “publish” button and sit back in my chair.

All I need to do now is wait.

CHAPTER13

BRAN

Theodore Stawarski: Can he manage a state if he can’t manage his team?

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