"You deceived me…"
Damon's voice was so loud, scary, and perilous, like the calm before a hurricane.
Elle's fingers were still trembling from the headline she had just seen trending online, and her heart was pounding.
"Damon, I promise I didn't." Don't you even trust me? Elle said tearfully.
Damon ignored her question and was just busy holding up his phone angrily, looking at Elle's countenance and the lips of Silas. And at that moment, time seems to have stopped.
Damon broke the silence again!
How do you think I will accept this as an accident? Was it a coincidence? Do you believe I am that naive, or are you really that way?
His words hit her like a hammer, but his voice never rose.
Elle begged, "That picture is old; it has been months." I did not even know you existed before, and I never dreamt I'd be contractually engaged with you. Silas was all that mattered then… Her throat tightened. "Silas was—he was…he was an error." My experience with Silas was a terrible one.
"But here he is, kissing my wife in the midst of a miserable public relations situation."
"I am not responsible for this," she exclaimed. "I would never try to undermine you or ourselves." Not because I intended to destroy your life, but because I had no other option, that was why I signed that contract!
Damon's jaw became tense. Perhaps that is the issue. I cannot tell when you are acting since you are so skilled at fooling people.
Elle's eyes got tearier the more. However, she did not blink.
You are looking for the truth, right? My best friend was the one with whom Silas cheated. He took advantage of me. I was gaslighted. I ended our relationship after I caught them red-handedly making love together in my apartment, and ever since then I never looked back. And now he is attempting to ruin my life in an attempt to re-enter it.
Between them, a silence descended that was so dense, it choked the air.
Damon did not appear upset for the first time. He had a conflicted expression.
Later that day, at a balcony for a charity event, Elle stood outside with her fingers clutching the railing and her skin being pricked by the chilly wind. Beside her, Damon emerged, his normal armor weakened and cracked.
"Elena, you are not the only one with a history." Every human on earth does, so don't let your past get into you too much. I will have the media take down those pictures and posts. So you have nothing to worry about. Damon said calmly.
Slowly, Elle turned to face him.
"So why do you treat me as though I am worthless?"
Damon failed to respond. He moved forward instead, drew her in close, and planted a kiss on her lips before she could respond.
From far below, the reporters begin to take their pictures.
"What are you doing?" she said in a whisper.
"Providing them with a more appealing headline." Damon said with a smile on his face.
His tone was steady. He kept his hand around her waist.
The front page of the following day blew up:
The Romantic Redemption of a Billionaire: Damon Shaw defends his wife with a kiss heard around the globe!
That evening, in the study.
The weight of everything pressed down on Elle as she walked around the penthouse with her heels tucked under her arm.
The door to Damon's study was slightly open when she heard muffled voices.
Clara's voice, clipped and low, drifted through the opening.
"We require additional push." Something more substantial. "While the board is becoming more lenient, the engagement remains precarious."
A moment of pause. After that:
According to Veronica, she said she has more, but I asked her to hold off. Next week, following the fashion gala, we will release it.
Elle went completely still.
Excellent. "What hit Elle will not be known to her," Clara remarked. Additionally, Damon won't know either.
Elle could feel the blood freeze in her veins. Damon's publicist, Clara. Plotting and feeding stories to Veronica.
Later That Evening, In Elle's Space
Her hands were trembling; she closed the door and locked it from inside.
As if she were possessed by something, she sat on the bare floor, pulled the contract from her drawer, and started leafing through the pages.
Her eyes ached at every sentence. One clause after another. Some were anticipated, including appearances in public, image commitments, and confidentiality agreements.
After that, she noticed it.
Subsection C of Section 12.
Should there be a personal scandal or betrayal of public confidence, the undersigned (Monroe, Ariella) may be deprived of all benefits and compensation, including medical contributions.
Extra clause: The undersigned shall leave within 24 hours and return any belongings, including clothing, presents, and media earnings accumulated from the agreement, in the event that Party A (Shaw, Damon) terminates the agreement early.
Elle held the paper tightly in her hands.
It was more than a short-term agreement.
There was a trap.
The words on the page were blurred by her tears when her phone buzzed once more.
Silas: "You believed I was finished, sweetheart?" Do not think that way. This is just the beginning.
Damon's footsteps were not audible to her outside the door.
Elle had no idea if Damon had also seen the clause, since it was Clara who had prepared the contract, and Damon just made her sign the contract without observing the clause on the other page of the contract.
Wait, what's going on? Or was Damon also aware of this? Elle reasoned within herself.
But the contract is just for 90 days, Elle mumbled while still lost in thought.
Both of them were being played.
The contract could only be burned or used as a weapon by one of them.