60__False rumours

60__False rumours
Erin woke up the next day to the wild vibrations of her phone.
Jolting, she shot upright with wide, glassy eyes.

“What??” Blinking, she looked around in a daze before realizing her phone was ringing. Pillows were flung to the floor and the bed half torn apart until she located the vibrating device.

She squinted at the bright screen before answering the call.
“Pheeb?”

“Dude?! What the fuck?!”

Erin’s eyes shot wide open, fully awake now. “H-hey, what’s going on? I just woke u—”

“What the hell am I hearing about you and Chris Michaels?! What’s going on, babe?!”

Erin sat in puzzled silence, staring at the wall. “Me and Chris? What do you mean?”
Unease settled deep in her gut.

“Check your phone!” Phoebe said. “I sent you an article.”

Erin put the phone on loudspeaker and opened Phoebe’s text messages.

“Well?!” said Phoebe as Erin read with wide eyes.

“Wait… what?!”

“That’s what I’d like to know!” her friend said. “Chris Michaels, soon-to-be CEO of Steel Core to marry Erin Moore, potential CEO of Stone Holdings?! What the FUCK?!”

“Phoebe, wait. C-calm down, stop cussing, this is…. it’s a huge misunderstanding!”

“Damn right, it is, but who did it?!” she demanded. “Tell me the name, Erin! I’ll break them in two!”

Erin was gripping her hair, staring at the article in disbelief. “Babe, I’m not sure, but I promise, once I confirm, I’ll let you know. Yeah? I’m… seriously confused right now!”

“There’s more than one article,” Phoebe said. “It’s not just some tabloid taking a chance, it’s something that these reporters were definitely fed! They’re running with it like it’s the new constitution of the country!”

Erin released a breath, putting her face in her hand. “Oh, my God, wait… I think it was Chris Michael’s father. The other night Chris asked me to pretend to be his fiancé—”

“He did WHAT?!”

Erin flinched. “It’s a long story, but I never said yes! His creep of a dad’s gone and…” She sighed. “Pheeb, I’ll call you back! I need to do damage control!”

She hung up on a cussing Phoebe and ran into the shower, her heart pounding as she freshened up. Why were things spiralling out of control? She’d expected that, after what Braden had done to Chris, he would come to her for the fake engagement, but she hadn’t expected to wake up to news articles!
On her way downstairs, she called up Chris, already holding back her temper.

He answered casually. “Hey, Erin.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What the hell is going on, Chris?”

There was a pause. “What do you mean? I’m currently getting a massage—”

“I don’t care what you’re doing, tell your father to take down those articles!”

“My father?” He had the audacity to sound confused.

“Yes, your father. You better fix this, Chris. Or I won’t even consider helping you!”

He scoffed. “I’m sorry… I don’t understand. You said you would help me.”

“Yeah, by talking to Braden—”

“And that didn’t work, so I thought you understood… that this was the only other way.”

His voice dripped with entitlement and it wrenched on Erin’s nerves. “I never said you could publish articles!”

“I assumed that part was obvious. It wasn’t?”

“Are you kidding me?! Your father—”

“It wasn’t my father who published the articles, it was me!!” he roared. An odd giggle suddenly filled her ear. “Oh, sorry for yelling. Lost my temper there.”

She paused. “Wait. What?”

He made a sound of annoyance. “Are you slow? I said I was the one who got the articles published! It’s working well, the stock price is already soaring.”

“Are you… are you insane?! You came to me for help, I actually tried to help you and then you go and pull this sick shit—”

“Oh, please, you really believed I could’ve gone to you for help? You, Erin Moore? What the fuck could you have helped me with?! All I did was use you, don’t get ahead of yourself!”

Erin’s mouth was parted in shock. “What do you mean? You definitely asked me for help—”

“I only used you as a way to threaten Braden and it didn’t even work! So now I’m going to make him feel my wrath by having everyone believe you’re mine. I’m not an idiot, Erin. I know it was you in that cabin with Braden. Braden’s the most possessive bastard I know, let’s see how he likes having everyone call you Mrs. Michaels.”

He laughed and the sound was like a trigger, shooting loathsome rage through every part of her body.
Erin’s hand had curled into a fist, trembling at her side. “You asshole… God, I’m gonna make you pay for this, Chris, I swear it!”

“I have nothing left to lose, Erin! Braden thought it was bad when I sent my father over?” He chuckled deeply. “That’s nothing compared to what I’ll do next!”

Her eyes went wide. “You… you were the one who asked your father to come here, weren’t you?! You lied to me! You pretended to need help, you sick freak!”

He hummed deeply in her ear. “Why do I love the sound of that? I love it when you call me names, Erin. Our marriage will be so fun, don’t you think?”

“God, I’m an idiot! I can’t believe I fell for your shit!”

“Thank goodness you’re an idiot, else it wouldn’t have worked at first. Now just wait until I pay Braden’s grandfather a visit. I’m sure he’d love to hear all about how you two fucked in a ship cabin.”

Erin’s face went slack, the blood draining out until she was pale. Slowly, the fury crept into her eyes, turning them fiery in the morning sunlight. Like a thread, her temper snapped.

“Chris. Where did you say you were again?”

“Clarissa,” Stephanie said on the phone. “Have you spoken with my father? Get on it. These bastards are getting on my nerves.”

Alicia hurried into the room just as Steph hung up.
“Erin isn’t home!” she announced.

Stephanie sighed. “Do you think she’s already seen the articles? How insane can these people be? To announce a non-existent engagement?!”

Alicia was shaking her head in worry, dialling Erin’s number. “Erin’s going to be so angry, she’s going to be furious.”

“As she should!” said Steph, throwing back her blonde hair with an angry swipe of her head. “Donnie’s pushing his luck, Dad should crush him like a fucking bug!”

“She isn’t picking up,” Alicia said anxiously.

Stephanie shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Ms. Moore. Erin’s fine, the articles will get taken down and I’ll sue Don and his gigolo-looking son of everything they’re worth!”

“Good morning~” sang a pleasant voice.

Both Steph and Alicia turned to watch Braden enter the room.
“Well, you sound chipper this morning,” Stephanie said dryly.

He blinked at the empty breakfast table. “Where’s breakfast?”

“Breakfast?!” his aunt demanded. “How can you think of food right now?! Poor Erin’s squeaky clean rep is being stained by a fat blob of Chris Michaels, every weirdo’s gonna think they have a chance with her now!”

Alicia gasped in horror, her eyes widening.

“Don’t worry,” Stephanie assured her. “I’ll keep the weirdo’s away from our little girl, Ms. Moore. Those bastards have to get through me!”

Braden sighed, looking at his phone. “No breakfast, huh? I need to leave for work right now, though.”

His aunt glared at him. “There are more important things!”

Jolting, he reached out both hands, gently touching her shoulders like he was calming a ferocious animal. “Woah… easy there, Steph. It’s eight in the morning.”

“So do something about Erin already!” she demanded.

Alicia held Braden’s arm. “Find her! That’s the most important thing right now.”

He’d been all cheerful since everything was going according to his plans, but that bit of information did take Braden by surprise. He looked at Alicia. “Wait, she isn’t home?”

Ms. Moore shook her head. “No! I’m calling her but she isn’t picking up!”

He frowned. “Oh.” Forcing on a calm expression, he smiled at Erin’s mom. “She’s alright, Ms. Moore, don’t worry. I’ll find her.”

Turning away, Braden quickly phoned Erin. His frown only darkened when she didn’t pick up.
He called her driver and waited for the call to go through.

“Mr. Stone!” came the surprised greeting. “How may I help?”

“Yes, hi, James,” Braden greeted. “Did you pick Erin up this morning?”

James gave a chirpy hum. “Sure, I did! Brought her to the Greenfield Relaxation Spa and I’m waiting outside.”

Braden muttered a dark curse. “Thanks, James.”

He hung up and pursed his lips. Why, Erin? Why?

Braden had people watching Chris and so he knew Chris’s exact location and that just happened to be where Erin had gone.
He sighed and turned for the door. “I’ll bring Erin back.”

Maybe, if he hurried, he’d catch her before she gave Chris Michaels a bloody nose.