Chapter 1 – The Scandal That Ruined Me
– Zara –
My name used to be whispered with admiration.
Now, it's smeared across headlines like dirt on a broken shoe.
"FASHION ICON ZARA WILLIAMS INVOLVED IN A SEX SCANDAL WITH EX-BOYFRIEND DAVID WOODS."
The words burned into my vision from my laptop screen black ink on white, each letter slicing through me like a blade. I sat frozen in my office, the morning sunlight slicing across my glass desk, the glint of my gold pen mocking me. My publicist, Ethan, was still talking his voice distant, frantic but I'd stopped listening five minutes ago.
"Zara, you need to make a statement. A denial. Something. This video is going viral—"
"There's no need for denial. The woman in the video is obviously me."
My voice trembled. My hands gripped the arms of my chair so tightly my nails dug into the leather.
But it didn't matter. The damage was already done.
I couldn't believe David my ex-boyfriendcould sink so low. To leak an intimate video of us? To ruin me like this?
He was my biggest mistake.
Bile rose in my throat. My brand, Zara's World, was built on empowering women on being strong, untouchable, and independent. And now? I was being called a liar. A sellout. A slut. Clients were pulling out of deals. Investors were "reconsidering their association." I couldn't even muster the courage to answer my mother's calls.
I was drowning.
Ethan's voice cut through the silence like a dull knife.
"Zara, we can still spin this. If we hold a press conference, maybe even cry a little—"
"Cry?" I snapped, the word sharp enough to make him flinch.
"Do you think tears are going to fix this?!"
My voice echoed off the high walls of my office before silence swallowed the room again. A silence so heavy it made my chest ache.
And that was when Damien Cross walked in.
Literally.
The office doors swung open without a knock, the polished brass handles clanging against the walls. And there he was every inch the man I'd only seen in magazines. Black suit. Perfect tie. Eyes cold enough to freeze blood mid-flow. He carried an aura that made people either worship him… or fear him.
For me? It was both.
My heart stopped.
"David's fired," Damien said, his voice slicing through the air like steel. No greeting. No hesitation.
I blinked. "What?"
"I terminated his contract this morning." He stepped forward, every movement deliberate, predatory. "Now, I'm here to make you a deal."
He placed a crisp folder on my desk with the kind of authority that dared me to ignore it.
"What kind of deal?" My voice was barely above a whisper.
Damien's lips curved into something between a smirk and a warning.
"Be my girlfriend."
I laughed too shocked, too raw to process his words. "You're insane."
"Maybe." He leaned closer, and I caught the faint scent of his cologne dark, expensive, like smoke after rain. "But I have PR teams, lawyers, and media control you need. And you…" His gaze swept over me like a challenge.
"You're the only one who can help me destroy David and my father."
I froze. "Your father?"
His jaw tightened, but he didn't answer.
And in that silence, I saw it something dark flickering beneath the billionaire mask. Hatred. The kind of hatred that burned hotter than revenge.
Ethan cleared his throat nervously in the corner, but Damien didn't look at him. He didn't look anywhere but at me.
"Do we have a deal, Miss Williams?"
I stared back at him, my world spinning, my reputation lying in ashes at my feet.
And just like that, my scandal turned into something else entirely.
A war.
I decided to ask him a question—something to anchor myself, something to know what I was getting into.
"Why do you want to destroy David? Wasn't he your employee?"
Damien's cold gaze didn't waver.
"I know you're confused, still trying to process everything," he said, his voice low but firm. "But we don't have time to waste. Reporters are waiting outside. They want answers. I'll answer all your questions when the time is right. For now, we have to shut this scandal down."
His voice was sharp, authoritative—tinged with impatience.
I was still in a daze. My surroundings felt like they were dissolving into a blur, the weight of everything pressing down on me until my lips parted and the only word I could manage was a fragile, trembling—
"Yes."
I saw the change in Damien's face. For the briefest moment, that unyielding expression softened.
"Well then," he said smoothly, extending his hand toward the door. "Shall we?"
Ethan was watching from the corner of the room, his face twisted in confusion.
A part of me the part that still clung to logic screamed at me to stop. But another part of me, broken and cornered, chose to trust Damien's process. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. But I nodded.
Damien's hand was warm and steady as he led me outside.
The moment the doors opened, chaos hit me like a tidal wave. Reporters swarmed the steps of the building, shouting my name, their cameras flashing so brightly I could barely keep my eyes open. The blinding strobe of lights made my head spin.
I never knew I was this famous until that moment until I saw the frenzy in their eyes.
A male reporter rushed toward me, a camera clutched in his hand.
"Miss Zara, how are you feeling after seeing that video?"
Betrayed. Humiliated. Destroyed.
The word "Betrayed!" burned on my tongue, but I swallowed it down.
Another voice shot out from the crowd.
"Miss Zara, is there something between you and Mr. Cross? You two are holding hands!"
It hit me then I was still holding Damien's hand, gripping it like it was the only solid thing in this storm. I hadn't even realized.
"I have something to say."
Damien's voice cut through the noise like a blade. The crowd fell silent, their microphones pushing closer, every lens aimed at us. His tone was so commanding, it sent a shiver down my spine.
"Miss Zara and I are officially in a relationship," he announced, his eyes scanning the crowd like a predator. "And concerning the video let's just say the culprit is an immature and insensitive person. We will not take this lightly. He should be prepared to meet us in court."
The reporters erupted into questions, but I barely heard them. I just stared up at Damien, confusion swirling in my chest.
Why was he doing this? Why would a man I'd never spoken to my ex's cold, arrogant boss, the proud, brilliant lawyer choose to help me?
Damien didn't wait for an answer from me. He tightened his hold on my hand and guided me through the crowd, cutting through the chaos as if he owned it.
A sleek black Audi was parked at the curb, the kind of car that looked like it could outrun the world jet-black paint, chrome rims that caught the light, windows tinted to perfection.
He opened the door for me with the smoothness of someone who always got his way.
"Get in," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
I slid into the plush leather seat, still dazed, still reeling from what just happened. Damien rounded the car, got behind the wheel, and without another word, the Audi purred to life.
And just like that, we drove away from the company away from the chaos, but straight into something I wasn't ready for.