Our Accidental Forever
Chapter 39: The Bombshell (1)

Chapter 39: The Bombshell (1)

Ella’s POV:

I stepped through the glass doors of Denco Group, balancing a sense of calm I didn’t quite feel.

The click of my heels echoed through the lobby as I smiled at the receptionist, nodding slightly in greeting.

Today felt off, though I couldn’t quite place why. Something was in the air, people were stealing glances at me as I walked past, exchanging hushed whispers the moment I was out of earshot.

I assumed it had to do with the upcoming wedding. ’The wedding’. The fake one.

If they only knew, I thought to myself. If they only knew that this whole thing with Arec was a contract, a way to satisfy his grandmother’s expectations and my need for stability. Not love. Definitely not love.

The only real thing in the relationship between me and Arec, was the baby now growing inside me.

Arec had changed. Ever since we found out about the pregnancy, he’d been softer. Kinder. Less professional in his approach towards me. Every morning, he asked about how I was feeling, checking in on me as though the boundaries we’d once set were slowly dissolving.

As I make my way to my desk, I noticed a few colleagues quickly looking away, murmuring to themselves. My stomach tightened. Was this normal office gossip? Was it just the wedding? Or was it something else?

I busied myself with the stack of emails waiting for me, trying to shake off the paranoia. Maybe it was nothing.

A few minutes later, Arec stepped out of his office.

"Morning, Ella," he said, his voice warm but slightly hesitant. "How are you feeling? How’s the baby?"

His concern was genuine. He was trying, and in that moment, I appreciated it. "I’m fine," I said, managing a smile. "The usual... tired but okay."

Arec nodded, his eyes lingering on me for a moment longer before he cleared his throat and glanced around the office. "Let me know if you need anything," he added, a little softer.

Before I could respond, he turned and walked back into his office, leaving me sitting there, flustered. He had been so different lately, but I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. A part of me wished this wasn’t all just an arrangement.

Just as I settled into my work, my phone buzzed on the desk. It was Kate. I frowned, she usually didn’t call me during work hours.

I swiped to answer. "Hey, Kate, everything okay?"

"Have you checked the internet this morning?" Her voice was sharp, laced with urgency.

My brows furrowed. "No, why?"

Her silence unnerved me. "Ella...there’s a video going viral right now. Klaus...he’s saying awful things about you. Something about ’Arec Weston’s fiancée exposed.’"

My heart stopped. I felt my throat tighten, making it difficult to breathe. "What? What are you talking about?" I stammered.

"You need to see it. It’s everywhere. Headlines like ’Ella Davis: The Ultimate Gold-Digger.’ I don’t know why Klaus would do this, but it’s bad, Ella. Really bad."

I couldn’t hear anything else she said. My ears were ringing, my heart pounding in my chest as I frantically searched for the video on my phone.

The search results were instant. Dozens of headlines, tweets, and comments exploded onto my screen. The first thing I saw was Klaus’s smug face, the caption beneath it reading, "The Truth About Arec Weston’s Fiancée."

No. No, this couldn’t be happening.

I shot up from my desk, and marched towards Arec’s office. My head was spinning, my breath coming out in shallow gasps. Klaus, of all people. Why would he do this?

I barged into Arec’s office, my panic overriding any sense of decorum. Arec looked up from his desk, his eyes widening in shock. "Ella? What..."

I didn’t say anything, just shoved my phone towards him, the video already playing. "You need to see this," I whispered, my voice trembling.

Arec took the phone from me, confusion flickering across his face as he pressed play. We both sat down, side by side, and watched as Klaus’s familiar face filled the screen.

"I hate that it’s come to this," Klaus began, his voice dripping with false sincerity. "But people need to know the truth about Ella Davis. She’s not who she pretends to be. I was with her before she left me for Arec Weston, a much richer man, obviously. It’s clear she’s only with him for his money, his power. That’s how she operates."

I felt my heart plummet into my stomach. Each word Klaus said felt like a punch to the gut. I could barely breathe, barely think. He went on to describe our relationship, twisting the truth, turning it into something ugly.

"She’s a gold-digger," Klaus continued, his voice growing more self-assured. "We were together for years, and the moment she had the chance to climb higher, she took it. I was nothing to her once she had access to Arec. And this isn’t the first time, by the way. Ella’s had affairs with prominent businessmen before. She knows how to work her way up."

I shook my head, bile rising in my throat. This couldn’t be happening. He was lying, every word was a lie. But as I glanced at the comments scrolling below the video, my horror grew. People were believing him. They were eating it up.

"What a gold-digger!"

"I knew she was too good to be true."

"Poor Arec. Hope he sees through her before it’s too late."

"People like her deserves to be hang."

Arec’s hands tightened around the phone, his jaw clenching as the video played on. I could see the tension in his shoulders, the anger simmering beneath his calm exterior. Finally, he paused the video, his face set in hard lines.

"Why would he do this?" I whispered, my voice breaking. "I haven’t spoken to Klaus since the night we broke up, except for that one time we ran into him when you asked me out for lunch. He was gloating about his new girlfriend. Why now? Why is he doing this now?"

Arec didn’t answer right away. He stood up, pacing the room, his hand rubbing his chin as he processed what we had just seen. "It doesn’t matter why," he finally said, his voice low and controlled. "What matters is how we handle it."

I stared at him, numb. "Everyone’s going to believe it. They’re already calling me a gold-digger. They think I’m using you."

Arec walked over and sat beside me, his hand resting on my knee. His touch was warm, grounding me in the moment. "Ella, listen to me," he said firmly. "We know the truth. You and I both know this is all bullshit. Klaus is just trying to ruin you, and we won’t let him."

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I blinked them back. "What if this destroys everything? What if your grandmother..."

"I don’t care what my grandmother thinks," Arec cut in. "This is about us. Not her. Not anyone else. We’ll get ahead of this. We’ll make a statement, show them Klaus is lying."

I nodded, though my hands trembled. The thought of addressing the public, of confronting the storm head-on, terrified me. But what choice did I have? If I stayed silent, I’d be letting Klaus win. Letting him rewrite my story.

"Okay," I whispered. "Let’s do it."

Arec squeezed my knee before standing up again. "First, we’re calling our PR team. We need to get a handle on this before it spirals even further."

As Arec picked up his phone to make the call, I sat back, my mind racing. How had things spiraled so far out of control? I thought I had left Klaus behind, left that Chapter of my life sealed away. But now, he had thrust me back into the spotlight, and not in the way I had ever imagined.

The comments, the headlines, they all blurred together in my mind. I could still see Klaus’s smug face, the malice in his eyes as he gleefully tore me apart for the world to see. He didn’t care about the truth. He just wanted to destroy me.

But I wouldn’t let him.