Chapter 259 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“You would be surprised by how much I know about the lives of a lot of high-profile persons,” Alicia said with a smile.

“High profile persons?” Benne asked curiously, and Alicia nodded.

“If you know a lot about high profile persons, how come you didn’t know about Benne?” Celsie cut in.

“I tried digging into OmniGlobal in the past, but there was no dirt there. There was no reason for me to pry into his life when he wanted to stay away from public view,” Alicia explained.

“For instance, I know that OmniGlobal recently purchased Ocean Airlines. Although Mr. Wyatt claimed to sell off the airline because he needed money to take care of his medical expenses, he is actually neck-deep in debts due to his gambling addiction,” Alicia said, making Benne narrow his eyes.

“I see,” Celsie said, looking at Alicia with newfound admiration, “Your job must be dangerous,” Celsie said thoughtfully.

“That’s why I live here. You wouldn’t have known what I do had I not told you, right?” Alicia asked, and Celsie gave her a nod.

“How do you get your information?” Benne asked curiously.

“I have my sources. Very reliable resources,” Alicia assured him.

“I think apart from using your YouTube channel you might be able to help us,” Benne said thoughtfully as an idea struck him.

“I would like to assist you both in any way I can,” Alicia said eagerly.

Inside the bedroom, Sonia lay on the bed with her head resting on Bryan’s chest, while he patted her hair gently.

“This feels like a dream,” Sonia murmured, holding him close as if she was scared that he was going to disappear.

“Aww, you’re in love,” Bryan said in a teasing tone, and Sonia giggled as she hit his arm playfully.

“It’s not funny!” Sonia chided him, and then she sat up to look into his face when she remembered that they weren’t here on a vacation.

Seeing the sudden seriousness in her eyes, Bryan sat up with a sigh, “Okay. What were you saying about a scandal?”

“It’s about our relationship being fake. The article says we deceived everyone into believing that we are a couple, and the companies that sponsored the reality show are calling you out. Your endorsement deals may be canceled and you will have to pay for breaching the contract,” Sonia explained with a frown.

“At least we both know our relationship isn’t fake,” Bryan said lightly.

“That isn’t the point right now. We did deceive everyone,” Sonia pointed out.

“And the crux of the matter is whether or not our relationship is fake. It is not,” Bryan countered, and reached out to smoothen the creases on her brow with his hand.

“Relax, babe. I will take care of it,” he assured her with a small smile, but Sonia was having none of it.

“How will you take care of it? This is all my fault. If I had not ended things, and left the way I did, this wouldn’t have happened,” Sonia complained.

“Says who? Don’t worry about it, and just trust me, alright? I will take care of it,” Bryan promised, and they both turned to the door when they heard a knock.

“Mind if I come in? Bryan, Benne needs you in the living room,” Celsie said without opening the door.

“Reality calls,” Sonia murmured to Bryan, “You can come in baby,” she called back to Celsie as she jerked her head towards the door for Bryan to leave.

“Baby? I thought I was your only baby?” Bryan asked with a scowl.

“Apparently, you thought wrong,” Sonia said with a giggle as she pushed him off the bed.

“I thought wrong, huh?” Bryan asked in a threatening tone and snapped his finger at her before walking away.

Celsie walked in with Sonia’s cellphone as Bryan walked out, “I forgot to give it to you earlier. Your editor has been calling,” she said as she handed the phone to Sonia, and sat down on the bed next to her.

“You both have reconciled, right?” Celsie asked hopefully, and Sonia gave her a wide smile.

“Yes, we have. He came over to help resolve things quickly so that I can go back home with him,” Sonia said with a happy smile.

“Home, huh? I guess you’ll be getting married to him after all,” Celsie said with a smile as she watched her friend. Although things weren’t going so well for her at the moment, she was happy to see that Sonia was happy.

Sonia sighed, “Let’s just clear up all this mess before talking about anything else,” Sonia said, suddenly feeling guilty that she was happy while Celsie’s issue was still unresolved.

“About that, you won’t believe that one of my neighbors…” Celsie was interrupted by the sound of Sonia’s ringtone.

“I need to take this,” Sonia said when she saw that it was a call from Mia.

“Sure. I should probably give Lucas a call so that they wouldn’t be worried about my sudden disappearance,” Celsie said as she excused Sonia.

“Hey!” Sonia greeted once she received Mia’s call.

“Is this Miss Smith?” An unfamiliar masculine voice asked, and Sonia’s brows creased in confusion as she pulled the phone back to confirm that it was Mia who had called her. Why was someone else with the phone?

“Yes. Who am I speaking with?” She asked cautiously.

“This is Paul Williams. The CEO of golden stars entertainment agency,” he introduced himself making Sonia’s heart skip a beat.

“Oh, hello!”

“I suppose you have seen the news all over the internet concerning your false engagement to Bryan?” He asked in a cool voice.

“Yes, I have.”

“Mia claims that you’re in love with Bryan. Is that right?” He asked, and Sonia swallowed nervously, as her heartbeat increased.

“Yes. I am.”

“I see. If you love him as you claim, and you don’t want to ruin his career like you’re already doing, I will suggest that you take the fall for all of this. Give out a statement informing everyone that you emotionally blackmailed him into proposing to you. You are a writer so I’m sure you can come up with something interesting and convincing. Tell them you approached Bryan and asked him to help you because you wanted fame, and out of the kindness of his heart he obliged,” the CEO said in a commanding tone.

“But he…”

“There are no buts. All three companies with which he signed endorsement deals for the reality show have called to cancel their endorsements, and several other companies are still calling to cancel theirs. They all want to be compensated because they feel they have been deceived. This isn’t good for Bryan’s career, and if you care about him as you have said, then you will do the right thing for him by taking the blame,” Mr. Williams paused, “If you had rejected his proposal or stayed away from him after that, he wouldn’t have hurt his ankle, and none of this would have happened in the first place,” he added in an accusatory tone that told Sonia that he blamed her for all of Bryan’s present predicament.

Sonia took in a deep breath. If she didn’t love Bryan, she would have responded appropriately to the senseless accusation, but she loved him and cared about his career. She had no idea what Bryan had up his sleeves, but she doubted that he could make this all go away easily.

“I hope you will do the right thing for him,” the CEO said and hung up before Sonia could respond.

Once she heard the disconnect tone, her hand fell to her side, and she sighed. He was right. If anyone was to take the fall for this, then it had to be her. She was nothing compared to Bryan who was an A-list celebrity. And she knew that it was very easy for public love to be transformed to hate.

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