Ashton’s voice rang out.
‘Only the people in this room knew I’d be at The Corner Table. So let’s see. Which one of you thought you were clever enough to set this up?’
Soone blurted out, high-pitched, ‘It wasn’t !’
Another chid in at once. ‘I swear, I didn’t even know you were coming until you walked in!’
‘I didn’t have ti to call anyone! I just got here—’
‘It wasn’t either!’
Their voices overlapped, rushed and clumsy.
Ashton’s gaze shifted past the group and landed on Cassian.
Cassian raised both palms. ‘Don’t look at . I worked my arse off getting you here. Why the hell would I sabotage it with a cara crew? What do you think I am, brain-damaged?’
Everyone had spoken now.
Except Rowan.
She straightened, forced a strained smile. ‘It definitely wasn’t . I just got back to Skyline. I don’t even know how to contact soone like that. And I wouldn’t do sothing this underhanded.’
Ashton said, calmly, ‘Seems no one wants to admit it. Fine. I’ll send the guy to the station. The police will get the truth out of him.’
Rowan gave a dry laugh. ‘Right. Yes. That’s fair.’
The youngest of the three executives raised his phone slowly. ‘Um, the post is trending.’
‘What? That’s impossible.’ Cassian goggled. ‘I told the PR team to kill the post.’
He was already dialling.
Ashton heard the entire conversation through the speaker.
Soone on the PR end was scrambling to explain that they were pushing it down, but soone else must be feeding the algorithm, keeping it hot.
Cassian hung up, then stared at his screen.
His shoulders slumped.
‘They found out who Ashton is.’
Everyone in the room looked at Ashton.
He was looking at the comnts.
The screen lit up in cold white, lines of text sliding past his narrowed eyes.
[That’s Ashton Laurent from Laurent Global Holdings. He runs the whole empire now.]
[dia’s been trying to get a shot of him for years. He always declines. No photos anywhere. Why’s he hiding if he’s got a face like that?]
[Didn’t think he’d be this young.]
[Just the right age for Rowan.]
[Rowan just got back and she’s already having dinner with him? That’s not casual.]
[Maybe he’s the reason she ca back.]
[They were seen going into a hotel together last week. Late night.]
[Is that confird? Are they together?]
[Could be getting married at this rate.]
[No! Rowan’s my goddess! She can’t get married this young!]
[They look good together though. Can’t lie.]
The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioner.
Cassian was sweating. ‘Don’t worry. It won’t escalate. We’re pushing it down already. Trending will be cleared within the hour.’
‘Find the agency behind the planted comnts,’ Ashton said. ‘Start with the ones quoting hotel sightings.’
‘Leave it to .’
Rowan sighed. ‘God, what a ss. All this because of dinner? I’ve already posted a statent to clear everything up. People will stop guessing. Hopefully.’
Ashton didn’t answer.
She paused, then added quickly, ‘I made it very clear there’s nothing between us. Just friends. That’s all. My team’s handling it.’
She tapped her phone and held it up.
The screen showed her latest post.
[I have no romantic involvent with Mr Ashton Laurent. We’re friends. Please stop spreading false claims. My legal team has already begun collecting evidence for defamation.]
The tone was cold, impersonal.
She’d tagged her lawyers, posted it on both Instagram and X, and switched the comnts off.
Cassian checked his phone, then nodded at Ashton. ‘It’s working. Buzz is dying down. Trending’s already dropped two spots. Should disappear completely in an hour.’
Ashton stared at the post on Rowan’s screen for another two seconds, then turned away and walked out without a word.
The night air hit hard, cold, sharp, a welco relief from the stifling room he’d just left.
Footsteps pounded behind him.
‘You know it’s not , right?’ Cassian called. ‘You know I wouldn’t be that stupid. I wouldn’t throw away our friendship over sothing like this.’
Ashton didn’t break stride.
Cassian jogged to keep up, panting slightly. ‘I swear I had nothing to do with this. The leak, the photo, none of it.’
Ashton had already pulled out his phone.
‘Dominic,’ he said when the line picked up. ‘Get in touch with the organisers of the Constellation Gem & Jade Forum. Find Mirabelle. Her phone’s off. I want to know where she is and why.’
‘I’m on it, boss,’ Dominic replied.
‘Anything from Hadley?’
‘No fresh updates. Police are still digging. Nothing new yet.’
Ashton ended the call without a word.
‘Are you mad at ?’ Cassian asked.
Ashton kept walking, long strides.
‘Co on, Ash. Talk to .’
‘I’m not mad at you,’ Ashton said. ‘But I’m not going to any more dinners you organise.’
Cassian grimaced. ‘You’re the one who said you wanted to et dia guys.’
‘Is Rowan a dia guy?’
‘No, but you know how it is. I needed soone, a pretty face, to help keep the conversation flowing. She just happened to be free.’
‘Are you dating her?’
‘What? No.’
‘Sleeping with her?’
‘Hell no. You just asked the sa question.’
Ashton’s eyes cut sideways. ‘It’s not the sa, not to you.’
‘She’s just a singer. Newly signed to my company. She wanted to network, I gave her a seat at the table. That’s all it was. What’s the big deal?’
Ashton stopped. Turned.
‘That’s always been your problem. You can’t say no to won. You’re too afraid they’ll stop liking you. Yvaine was right to dump you.’
Cassian’s face dropped. ‘Ouch.’
Ashton walked on.
‘Are we still friends?’ Cassian called out.
‘Depends.’
‘On what?’
‘On if you make any more stupid mistakes like tonight.’
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