ONE WILD NIGHT

usiness reports when

ur minutes. Dozens of texts pil

ver broken rules in three years "ru

e a problem.

f problem required breaking pr

oice was ice. "We

n a me

. I'm in t

rcus stood frozen by t

is going on?

ld see for yourself."

hit me like a

'S SECRET BA

e. Me, leaving the Grandview Hotel elevator that morning six weeks ago, look

photo stopp

black dress that made her glow. She looked beautiful, unsure, and c

shook a

unidentified woman enters hotel. Sources confirm woman is Maya Collins, 22, Westfield

d rang through my

as pre

my

ictoria walked in, dressed to

s. He disappeared so fast

and turned to face me.

wn w

Alexander. How long have

The words felt st

harp. "You sleep with some little scholarship s

d prot

s vans were already pulling up. "This is a disaster, Alexander

at we wanted, just the business arrangement our f

ria, l

relationship. Four years of charity galas and dinner parties and pretending to be in love wi

night was not desperate ,She was str

you want

he's obviously after money. Your fath

ontrolling every narrative, managing every crisis. In his world, pr

don't wan

n the air between u

a froze

n't want to l

ition in the company. Your future. Everything your family built will go to your cousin

d me I'd followed her willingly into that hotel room, des

f I do

planned. The merger goes through. The girl gets pa

s a problem to be solved instea

rang. M

," Victori

tting it

ould freeze lava. "I ass

, fa

or this afternoon. You'll deny everything.

, wh

nity. She took it." His tone hardened. "You will deny everything.

vid, my cousin, had been

eed

stard. The word

ot a gol

re you were born. They see an opportunity and they take it. She's pr

on't k

nd next to Victoria at that press conference and deny everything. You're going to suggest this

f I re

e with no money, no business, and no future. Dav

exactly the kind of son my father wished I was. He had been

time t

press conference is at

e's right, you know. This is only a phase. Rich me

st time in my life I had truly felt close to someone. She s

baby is min

yers will

ought made my chest ache in

see her. Ta

Any contact you have with her now will be seen as confirm

a news alert. Another

Y MAMA: GOLD DIG

gain or a foolish student who didn't know what she was doing. Neither sounded

a's voice snapped me

wless and beautiful, but t

p feelings with the wrong kind of woman. Real life m

ing a woman I'd never lov

ued. "Your hair appointment is in twenty. Try to look devast

ithout ano

ograph on the screen. Even in the grainy ho

nd cameras and headlines calling her a gold-digger. Alo

ith a text from a

ut there. Maybe you should find some

be even helping Maya. I should have felt worried, but instead

s. And in ninety minutes, I was abo

ess

ia's text. Then at Maya's picture ,she looked

brave, to be the man s

red over my fa

between the life my family wanted fo

artbeat, counting down to the moment