Ethan sank deeper into his couch, one arm resting against the plush cushion while the other held his phone to his ear.
His morning had been quiet — finally a break from the chaos of managing ATLAS. No photo shoots, no business etings, no distractions.
Just a simple plan: relax, eat chips, maybe even take a nap.
But then his phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen and saw the na Lila flashing.
He let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.
It had been a while since they last talked.
Between setting up ATLAS and dealing with promotions, he had been swamped.
And Lila… well, she wasn't exactly the kind of woman who liked to be put on the back burner.
Ethan sighed, knowing there was no way out of this, and swiped to answer.
"Lila," he greeted, his voice casual but wary.
There was a mont of silence, then a dramatic sigh.
"So you do rember ," she said, her voice tinged with playful sarcasm. "I was starting to think I got replaced by a resort."
Ethan chuckled, shaking his head. "Co on, don't be like that. I've been busy."
"Mhm." She wasn't convinced. "No calls, no texts. Just radio silence. And then I see your face on my feed next to so lissa girl? Wow, Ethan, wow."
Ethan groaned, already seeing where this was going. "It was just business. We needed the publicity."
Lila clicked her tongue. "I know that. But still. You owe ."
He sighed, leaning back against the couch. "Alright, alright. Let make it up to you. How about dinner? Just you and . You pick the place."
There was a brief pause before she humd in satisfaction. "Now that's more like it."
Ethan smirked. "So that ans I'm forgiven?"
"For now," she teased. "But you better make it worth it."
"I will," he promised.
Satisfied, Lila let out a small laugh. "Okay, I'll text you the details later. Don't ghost this ti."
Ethan shook his head. "Wouldn't dream of it."
They exchanged a few more words before the call ended.
Ethan exhaled, tossing his phone onto the couch. That could've gone worse.
Much much worse.
He grabbed the remote and powered on the flat-screen TV, planning to lose himself in sothing mindless — maybe a movie, maybe the news, maybe just so music while he relaxed.
But the second the screen lit up, his jaw clenched.
No way.
No fresking way.
The news anchor was talking animatedly, and next to her was a paused image of him and lissa from yesterday's shoot.
" — Ethan Grey, the man behind the highly-anticipated ATLAS Resort, was seen with social dia star lissa Carter in a promotional shoot yesterday. The video, which has already amassed millions of views, has sparked major interest in the grand opening of the resort."
Ethan groaned, running a hand down his face. Millions of views? Already?
The segnt continued, showing clips from the shoot.
lissa's confident voice played on the screen: "This is Ethan Grey, the man behind ATLAS Resort. He's been working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring this place to life, and let tell you — it's worth it ."
The cara cut to Ethan's neutral expression, his short and to-the-point response: "Glad you think so."
Then, the video flipped to the part where lissa playfully nudged him, teasing him about loosening up.
The newscaster chuckled. "It's safe to say lissa Carter's influence is bringing plenty of attention to ATLAS. But the real question people are asking — who is Ethan Grey?"
Ethan tensed.
'Here we go.'
"With very little public presence and almost no personal social dia, Grey remains a bit of a mystery. But with ATLAS set to launch soon, that may be about to change."
Ethan exhaled slowly as the segnt moved on to discuss tourism statistics and luxury travel trends.
He leaned his head back against the couch, staring at the ceiling.
'Great.'
So much for his plan of laying low.
His phone buzzed again. He picked it up, expecting Lila — but it was Zack.
Ethan answered. "You saw it too?"
Zack's laughter ca through the speaker. "Oh yeah. Dude, you're viral."
Ethan rubbed his temples. "That's not necessarily a good thing."
"Are you kidding? It's fantastic. ATLAS just got more free publicity than we could've ever paid for."
Ethan sighed. "Yeah, but now people are gonna start digging into my life. I wanted to keep things separate."
"Too late for that," Zack said, amusent clear in his tone. "Anyway, I just called to say congrats. You're officially a public figure now."
"Wonderful," Ethan deadpanned.
"Enjoy your fifteen minutes of fa, Mr. Grey."
Ethan shook his head, ending the call.
So much for a quiet morning.
Ethan exhaled as he leaned back into the couch, grabbing his phone again.
He scrolled to lissa's Postgram page, already knowing what he'd find — but seeing it with his own eyes still made his brows lift.
Her page was flooded.
The videos of the video shoot had done well, but the one with him specifically? That had exploded.
"Holy shit," he muttered under his breath.
He clicked on the video, watching as it played again.
lissa's usual confidence oozed through the screen, but the real surprise was the comnts section.
[@baddie_lyn: Who is this Ethan Grey and why is he built like that?]
[@officiallina: This man just blinked and I fell in love. What do you AN he owns a resort??]
[@sugarplumbaby: Soone drop his number. I just wanna talk. I swear.]
Ethan nearly choked on his own breath as he scrolled.
"Oh god," he muttered, shaking his head.
No wonder Lila was pissed — half of the entire female population seed to be thirsting after him in the comnts.
One thread was particularly long:
[@jennybeans: lissa, I think you're sitting next to my future husband. Be careful.]
[@livvy_xo: Excuse you, OUR future husband. Let's share so respect.]
[@baddie_lyn: Ladies, please. We can settle this in a civilized manner. A Hunger Gas-style battle, perhaps?]
Ethan groaned, dropping his phone onto his lap. What the hell is wrong with people?
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