Chapter 81 Headlines and a Package
I dropped the call and hurriedly reached for my phone.
“What’s going on?” Dave asked, tilting his head slightly to glance at me.
“I don’t know. Lena said something about me being on a blog,” I replied, scrolling through my phone.
That was when I saw it… A headline on one of the local gossip blogs I usually avoid.
“A Mysterious Woman Spotted with the Former Prime Minister’s Son: Dave Wilton at Their Family Estate.”
“How… How did this happen?” I muttered under my breath.
“Is everything okay?” Dave asked again, trying to keep his focus on the road ahead.
My finger hovered over the link for a second before I tapped it.
The article loaded instantly. There was a photo at the top, it was grainy but unmistakable. It had been taken from a distance, probably through the trees near the lake.
It was taken when Dave and I were walking hand in hand along the path. My face was turned toward him, laughing at something he had said, so only my side profile was visible, but it was enough for someone who knew me to recognize me.
Underneath the grainy photo was a caption that read:
“Dave Wilton, heir to the Wilton real-estate dynasty and son of Prime Minister Craig Wilton, was seen cozying up with an unidentified woman at the family’s exclusive upstate estate over the weekend. Sources said the pair looked ‘very much in love’. Who is the mystery lady stealing the eligible bachelor’s heart? #DaveWilton #WiltonEstate #WhoIsShe?”
My stomach dropped, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
I could feel Dave’s eyes glancing at me occasionally to check if I was okay.
I scrolled down to the comment section which was already a war zone.
~ “She looks average as fuck. What does he even see in her?”🤢
~ “Gold digger alert! I bet she’s just after the money.”
~ “That dress is giving clearance rack. He could do SO MUCH BETTER!”
~ “Former PM’s son slumming it? That’s disappointing.”
~ “Side profile only? She’s definitely hiding something. Probably married lol.”
~ “Another nobody trying to climb the ladder to wealth. I’ve seen that multiple times.”
~ “She’s not even pretty. He’s punching down HARD.”
My chest tightened with every single swipe. I felt really small. Shame, anger, humiliation all twisted together until I couldn’t tell them apart. It was only my side view, but somehow that made it worse.
It was as if half of me was being judged and torn apart by strangers who didn’t know a single thing about me.
I felt small, cheap, and exposed.
I didn’t realize that I was already breathing too hard until Dave’s voice cut through my thoughts.
“Joan? Are you okay?”
I turned to look at him and the little smile on his face faded immediately.
I couldn’t speak at first, I just turned the phone’s screen toward him.
“I’m coming,” he muttered softly and parked the car carefully.
Then he took the phone from me gently and scrolled.
I watched his eyes move over the headline, the photo, and then to the comments.
His expression didn’t change too much. It was still calm and steady, but the muscle in his cheeks tightened in a way I had never seen before.
He locked the phone and set it face down on his thigh.
“Hey, look at me,” he said softly, turning in his seat to face me.
I also turned to face him reluctantly.
“None of that is true,” he said.
“Not a single word.”
“They think I’m… they think I’m after your money,” my voice cracked as I spoke.
“That I’m not good for you… that I’m nothing.”
Dave reached for my hands.
“They don’t know you,” he said quietly.
“They don’t know us. They are just strangers with keyboards and too much time.”
“But it’s everywhere. People are saying…”
“Let them say,” he said, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles in small circular motions.
“I don’t care what they think. All I know is that you are the most real, kind, talented, and beautiful woman I’ve ever met. And you are mine, not because of status or money, but because you chose me,” he stated.
Tears wanted to roll out of my eyes, but I quickly blinked them back.
“I just… I didn’t expect it to feel like this,” I admitted.
“It feels like I’m suddenly on display,” I added.
“I know… and I hate that this is happening. But I promise I will take care of it,” he assured, squeezing my hands.
I looked up but I didn’t utter a word.
“I will have our PR team issue a statement. They will scrub what they can from the sites, the only ones to deal with are comments, but with time they will die down,” he said and paused for a while, studying my face.
“They always do,” he continued.
“Has something like this happened before?” I swallowed.
“It comes with the last name,” he smirked softly.
“But this time it’s different. Because it’s you.”
He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me. I pressed my face into his chest, taking in the clean scent of his cologne.
“I’m so sorry about this,” he muttered into my hair.
I closed my eyes, letting myself seep into the warmth of his chest.
“It’s not your fault,” I whispered.
Then he pulled back a bit and planted a kiss on my forehead.
“Let’s get you back home,” he said, letting out a weak smile.
The drive to my place felt longer than it should have been, the words I had read earlier ringing in my head like a bad song on repeat.
After a pretty long ride, Dave pulled over in front of my apartment and killed the engine.
Then he got out of the car to get the door for me.
“I will call you when I get home,” he said and kissed me on my cheek.
I nodded, grabbed my bag, and walked up to the porch, waiting for him to drive off before going inside.
He waved and drove off.
The door opened even before I knocked.
Lena stood in the doorway, her eyes scanning mine as if she was looking for a crack in my expression.
“Are you okay?” she asked, concern clear on her face.
“Yeah… I just… I just had a bad day,” I replied, forcing a small smile.
She moved aside to let me in, closing the door behind me with a soft click.
“Are you really okay?” she asked, quietly following me into the living room.
“I’m okay. Dave said he would take care of it,” I replied, dropped my bag, kicked my shoes off, and dropped into the couch.
Lena sat beside me, tucking her legs under her.
“The blog thing?”
I nodded.
“Do you think he will be able to?” she asked, scanning my face.
“Yeah. But God, Lena… reading those comments felt like someone took a knife and stabbed me in my chest. I knew this would happen the moment I said yes to him, I just didn’t think it would come this fast and… hit this hard.”
Lena reached over and squeezed my knee.
“They are just bored and bitter souls,” she said softly.
“I know. I just… hate that it got to me,” I laughed weakly.
“It’s supposed to get to you, girl. You are human, and you are in love with a man whose last name comes with the spotlight. It doesn’t mean you are weak,” Lena muttered.
I leaned my head back against the couch and sighed.
“He said it will die down. I just wish I could fast-forward to the part where it already has.”
Lena opened her mouth to reply but a knock on the door cut in.
“Did he come back?” I asked, my eyes darting toward the door.
“I will get it,” Lena said, standing up immediately.
She walked to the door, peeped through the door hole, frowned, then opened it cautiously.
“No one is here,” she said, looking right and left.
She then looked down, and that was when her shoulders became stiff.
“Joan? Come here,” she called out.
I stood from the couch and walked over to meet her.
“Look at this,” she pointed down to the floor.
There, in front of our door, sat a small black box tied with a thin silver ribbon.
Lena crouched, studying it as it might bite her.
“Did… you order something?”
“No,” I replied almost immediately.
“Who dropped this here then?” she asked, looking at the box as if it was going to answer her.
Just as she was about to touch it, I quickly held her hand.
“Don’t touch it yet,” I said.
“Oh, yeah. Safety first,” she nodded.
We both stared at the box for a while then I pulled out my phone, turned on the flashlight, and pointed it down.
“You ready?” Lena looked at me, ready to open the box.
“Yeah,” I nodded, making sure the flashlight didn’t leave the spot.
She untied the ribbon carefully and opened the lid.
Then she jolted up, flinging the lid back to the ground.
“OH MY GOD!” she shouted.
My stomach dropped.
“What the hell is this?”