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But Olivia jolted awake in panic. She struggled violently, almost toppling off the bed. William caught her just in time, holding her tightly as fear trembled through her body.
William sat up in bed, his gaze fixed on Olivia. Her eyes were hollow, as if the life in them had dimmed. His voice softened, almost pleading.
"Olivia… you know you can talk to me, right? I'm here if you need me."
Her lips trembled, but her tone was distant. "I know. But right now, I just… I just want to be alone."
Before he could stop her, she pushed back the covers and stood. "I'll stay in the guest room until I calm down."
The quiet finality of her words cut through him, but William said nothing. He could only watch as she left the room and closed the bedroom door behind her.
Olivia knew she was hurting him, yet her mind was trapped in a storm she couldn't control. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Reporter Joe's lifeless body.
And in the shadows of her memory, Vincent's mocking voice echoed cruelly: This is your fault. All of it. You thought you were clever… and now look what you've done.
That night, her torment only deepened. Dreams twisted into nightmares, dragging her into the same scene again and again—Joe's dead body, Vincent's sneer, her own helplessness. By dawn, her body burned with fever.
When William woke at dawn and came to check on her, he was shocked to find her burning with fever. Panic surged through him. Without hesitation, he gathered her in his arms and rushed her to the hospital.
Meanwhile, when the police visited Empire Daily News that morning to question Vincent, they discovered he had left the country just the day before on a business trip. He wasn't expected to return for a week, leaving them with no choice but to wait.
A week slipped by quickly. Olivia had recovered from her illness and finally returned to work. But the moment she stepped into the office, she felt it—every pair of eyes on her.
The hushed whispers, the wary glances, the unspoken suspicion hanging in the air. She knew exactly what they were thinking.
But she didn't bother to explain herself. She knew that no matter what she said, they would only believe what they wanted to believe. Deep down, she also couldn't shake the feeling that Reporter Joe's death was her fault.
Right now, all her thoughts were fixed on one thing—one person: Lorenzo Ricci. According to Alexandra, he had left the country the very day Reporter Joe was killed, supposedly for a business trip. Yesterday, he returned to New York, and today… he was expected to come into the office.
Olivia's fingers hovered over her keyboard, pretending to focus on her work while lost in thought , when a girl from the same department suddenly burst through the door, her voice loud with excitement.
"The boss just arrived at the building!" she announced breathlessly.
"What? Tell me, I'm dying to hear!" one colleague squealed.
In an instant, her coworkers closed in around her, their eyes gleaming with curiosity, hungry for gossip.
The girl's eyes sparkled as she leaned in, savoring the attention. "Not only did the boss come in person, but he also brought along a very handsome friend. And guess what? The detectives investigating that dead reporter… they followed the boss straight into his office."
Gasps rippled across the room. Shock, unease, and curiosity spread like wildfire. But at her desk, Olivia's hands froze on the keyboard. Her heart pounded.
He was here.
"You mean the detectives came to question the boss? But what does our boss have to do with some dead reporter?" one girl sneered loudly. "They're worlds apart. How could a powerful man like our boss even know such an unpopular nobody?"
Olivia's fingers stilled on the keyboard, curling into a fist over the keys. Dead reporter. Unpopular. Nobody. The words echoed like insults in her ears, and her chest burned with anger.
With a sharp motion, she pushed back her chair—the screeching sound cut through the chatter and drew every eye in the office.
Her cold gaze locked onto the gossipy girl, her voice sharp enough to slice through the tension. "Is this what you came to the office for? To spread gossip about the boss?" Her tone dropped lower, colder. "Do you want me to report you to the editor for wasting company time?"
The girl stiffened, but Olivia wasn't finished. And as for Reporter Joe, Olivia's eyes narrowed, her words trembling with restrained fury, who told you he wasn't famous? Have you even read any of his articles?
"If you had, you would know that in every article he published, he risked his life to bring the truth to the public—while you sit here spitting nonsense. Just because he's gone and can't defend himself, you dare to speak ill of him?"
Gasps rippled through the room. No one had expected the usually calm and composed Olivia to erupt like this.
Olivia stepped closer, her voice sharp with contempt. "You should be ashamed to speak ill of the dead. The only thing you seem to know how to do is gossip.
Maybe that's why you've been in this company for years without achieving anything—because instead of working, you waste your breath tearing down the dead."
Silence. No one dared to speak in defense of the two girls.
The two girls' faces flushed red—half in shame, half in anger. The cluster of coworkers who had gathered around them scattered back to their desks, pretending to work.
But the gossipy girl wasn't done. She let out a mocking laugh, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Acting so high and mighty just because you're dating the editor's cousin? Let's see how long you stay proud when that relationship ends."
She flipped her hair back, grabbed her friend's hand, and strode out of the office with a sharp sway of her hips.
Olivia only shook her head, refusing to give the girl the satisfaction of a reply.
From the corner of her eye, James—who had been quiet this whole time—looked at her with obvious concern. "Don't worry about what they're saying," he said gently. They're just jealous. "You've got the perfect boyfriend, and after you appeared on the news last week…
He paused and said they're just spreading rumors because they're jealous of you. If you really had something to do with that murder, the police wouldn't have let you go," James said.
The words slipped out before he could stop himself. His hand flew to his mouth, eyes wide with regret.
Olivia forced a small smile to show she wasn't offended, but inside her stomach tightened. For a week now, every time she closed her eyes, she saw Reporter Joe's disfigured body—his bloodied face staring back at her, accusing her in silence.
She felt a deep guilt in her heart. It was her fault—he had died because of her.
She had been pulling away from William for the same reason. On the surface, it looked like she was cold, but deep down she was terrified.
Terrified that Vincent was watching her. Terrified that if he saw how close she still was to William, he would kill him too—just like he had killed Joe.
She also knew that, because of it, she had been ignoring William for the past week and was no longer as close to him as before. Only she knew in her heart that
The real reason she had been ignoring William was because she was afraid that Vincent was watching her.
She was worried that if he saw how strong and close her relationship was with William, he might end up killing him just as he had killed Reporter Joe. She couldn't let that happen.
Please check out my two other new books—one is an Historical Harem novel and the other a fantasy Romance novel. I hope you can continue to support your author!