blur of quiet touch

known how to name until distance had forced him to. Agnes barely left his side. They lay in bed fo

t in a glass house, wasn

e had been

g: Headlines

vibration of her ph

ched for it, expecting a work ema

saw stopped h

E: Reed's Girlfrie

he screen before sh

ruthless scoops-had posted a new headline

s? Sources say Agnes Hart is hiding something from her pas

ific ac

med s

ly designed we

ed over. "

ld out t

article with a growing tension

sip," she whispere

nothing they can say that will

the fear in her c

y of rising, especially when love

st She

at work wear

o a tight twist. Lips painted red. The

unded the entire

moke-it was embers circling somet

fa

lly... he

r desk, eyes already

a tight nod

n. "You think t

. But th

t have to say anything. You

uietly. "But I owe

Tr

invited James

ther saying much. The air between

he broke t

enteen, my moth

set his drink

irm in Albany. She was stealing client funds, forging

ared

I didn't even have access to those files. But the invest

urrowed. "Were

And for a while, it followed me. Every internship I applied for. E

allowe

reach out when I got the job at Reed. I ignored i

ossed to her, gent

gn

o afraid to tell you. I didn't

uilt her entire life without asking anyone for a

clung

might see me that w

hen let them look. You've g

ge C

James called an em

professionals do their job-but before

ement," the PR director said. "O

not spinning it. We're tellin

the room. Every fa

rst time, she

eak for mysel

le

owly. "We'll draft somethi

Stat

siness media. Speculation surged. Anonymous "sources"

nt hit that

Agnes

or. I was never charged. But I bore the stain of her actions for years afterward. I built my career

ot because of his power-but

ent

most of the respon

uth trended

ut... and

d, the storm passed-but i

n didn't crumble.

eak on resilience at

lot for female ex

ote from one of Reed Innovat

character. You

all, James stay

ust i

partn

ield her fro

h her while

rom

ood on his penthouse balcony, city lights

omething from

ked. "What

freak

mes

not a

aled, l

er a small

ing you to move. I'm just asking you to be part

d the key i

e said, te

ka

t all