Page 88 of Fake It For Glory

Her actions reminded me why I was a recluse. She was exactly why I trusted no one. I let her weasel her way into my life and I was going to be paying a high price for that moment of weakness.

Hattie came into the office carrying a stack of papers and balancing two coffees in her other hand. “Caffeinate,” she ordered.

“Let me guess, you have more bad news,” I said.

“It’s not great news.”

She sat down, and once again, we went over the next round of attacks. The article was being spun by every other publication ever established with sources coming forward. It felt like I was in a battle and facing wave after wave of attacks. Just when I thought I was finally through the thick of it, another attack came in.

The air in the room was thick with tension, and it felt like we were on the brink of a disaster that was spinning out of control.

But then, like a breaking dam, Hattie’s frustration erupted. Her voice cracked and she quickly buried her face in her hands. “I can’t believe this happened,” she muttered, her voice heavy with self-blame. “This is my fault.”

My own anger and stress surged as I watched her break down. She had been a rock throughout this ordeal, tirelessly working to manage the crisis, and seeing her like this tore at my heart. Hattie didn’t cry. She was always a pillar of strength beside me.

“Hattie,” I said, my voice laced with frustration. “This isn’t your fault. We trusted the agency. We trusted Merida. None of us could have seen this coming.”

She looked up at me, her eyes filled with regret. “I should have known better,” she whispered. “I should have been more cautious. I thought we could trust them, especially Merida. She seemed so kind, and I thought she was good for you. You seemed so happy.”

I knew that Hattie was shouldering an immense burden of guilt, and I wanted to reassure her that she wasn’t alone in this. “Hattie,” I said firmly, “we’re in this together. We’ll figure it out. Right now, we need to focus on containing the damage. We can’t change what happened. It happened.”

As I spoke, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of the situation pressing down on me. The anger and stress were ever present, but I knew that we had to keep moving forward, no matter how daunting the road ahead might be.

I looked at Hattie, her face marked by tears and frustration, and I felt my own anger and stress bubbling beneath the surface. I couldn’t afford to let those emotions consume me right now. There was too much at stake, and we had to keep the ship afloat.

“We can cry about it later,” I told her, my voice steady but tinged with frustration. “Right now, this has nothing to do with Faux’s. We need to focus on damage control.”

Even though I wore a tough exterior, I was seething inside. This betrayal stung like nothing else, and it dredged up old feelings from when my father had started slipping away from me. The sense of trust that had been shattered was all too familiar.

Did I ever really know Merida at all? Was everything we shared just a ploy to get close to me so she could write a story? The questions swirled in my mind, but I couldn’t bring myself to read the full article. The thought of seeing those words on the screen, the allegations and accusations? It was too much to bear.

For now, I had to compartmentalize my emotions and focus on finding a way out of this mess. The anger and stress would have to wait, pushed to the back of my mind as I grappled with the reality of the situation.

It was unforgivable, and I knew that I would never be able to trust her again. Hell, I would never trust anyone again. But right now, that didn’t matter. What mattered was getting ahead of the story and minimizing the damage as much as possible.

“We need to reach out to our legal team,” I said to Hattie, my tone clipped and businesslike. “They need to start working on a response to the article. I called my lawyer already, but that’s for my personal protection.”

Hattie nodded, her face a mix of determination and sadness. “I’ll get right on it,” she said, her voice low. “But what about Merida? Can you sue her? Can the company sue her?”

I shook my head, my jaw tight. “My lawyer didn’t think so, but there is the NDA she signed at Faux’s. He called me a bit ago and said he was reaching out to Della.”

“Good. Nail her ass.”

“We might also have some room to go after her and the publication for talking about the tech,” I said. “It might be a stretch, but we can at least try to prevent them from divulging any more information about it.”

Hattie nodded, her eyes hardening with resolve. “We’ll do whatever it takes to protect the company and your reputation.”

I appreciated her loyalty, but deep down, I knew that the damage had already been done. The article was out there, and no matter how hard we tried to mitigate it, the public would have their opinions. And the worst part was that some of those opinions might be true.

“Carl said he’s been fielding calls from just about every morning show host. He thinks you need to go on before she does.”

“She’s doing the media rounds?” I felt the blood rushing from my face.

“I don’t know,” she answered with sadness in her voice. “But that’s the usual process. Her story has blown up. She makes the rounds, and the story gets a second wind. This isn’t going to go away anytime soon.”

“You think I should push the launch,” I said.

“I don’t know yet. But we might need to consider it.”