Page 133 of Claimed By The Other Brother

Before I can respond, another text comes through. From Sarah.

Sarah: OH MY GOD. Have you seen it???

My stomach drops.

I open my browser and type my name into the search bar. The results load, and my heart stops.

Photos. Everywhere.

Me and Dax at the Brooklyn event. In the private corridor. His hands on my waist. My body pressed against his. Our mouths locked in a kiss that's unmistakably intimate.

The headlines are brutal:

"Blackwell Media CEO Caught in Scandalous Affair with PR Consultant"

"Media Mogul Dax Blackwell and Crisis Manager Scarlett Bradford: Conflict of Interest or Office Romance?"

"From Crisis Management to Personal Entanglement: Blackwell's New Scandal"

My hands shake as I scroll through article after article. Social media is exploding. Comments. Speculation. People dissecting every detail of the photo. And underneath it all, mentions of the MediaLink scandal—the very crisis I was hired to manage—now overshadowedby this.

I try to call Dax. It goes straight to voicemail. He's probably in his meeting.

My phone rings. Jane.

I answer. "Jane—"

"Are you okay? Scarlett, what the hell is happening?"

"I don't know. I didn't—we didn't know anyone was taking photos."

"It's everywhere. Twitter, Instagram, every gossip site. They're calling it a scandal."

Sarah's voice comes through in the background.

"Is she okay? Let me talk to her."

"I'm here," I manage. "I'm... I don't know what to do."

"Does your boss know?" Jane asks.

Before I can answer, another call comes through.

Linda.

My boss.

"I have to go," I tell Jane. "Linda's calling."

"Call us back. We're here for you."

I hang up and stare at Linda's name on my screen. My heart is pounding so hard I can barely breathe.

I answer. "Linda."

"Scarlett." Her voice is ice.

"What the hell is going on?"