After He Betrayed Me, I Disgraced Him

I dragged myself back to my chair and dialed up my go-to investigator, Sean Brians.

"Hey, Sean. How’s it going?"

"Not much. Who’s the new target now?" he asked.

"You saw that viral clip from the Stellar Sound Awards last night?"

"Yeah, the new couple, right?"

"Yep, that’s them. I’ll send over their details. Just keep me posted like usual," I said.

He chuckled. "Didn’t think I’d see the day you’d cover celeb scandals, Em."

I hung up, not really in the mood for jokes and sent him the addresses for Niall and Pamella.

Then, I started browsing everything I could find about Pamella online. There wasn’t much on Niall besides some articles about his start-up, but Pamella? There were tons of stories, mostly about her chaotic love life. She had dated some big names and one guy even claimed she used him before they had a very public fallout.

I scrolled through the mess, frowning, when my phone rang—it was Niall. I hesitated but picked up.

"Emilie, are you free tonight? Let’s have dinner and make up for missing our anniversary," he said.

Still angry, I wanted to turn him down, but curiosity got the better of me. I needed to hear his side of things and, more importantly, I wanted to know what was really going on between him and Pamella.

So, after work, I drove to the restaurant where Niall was already waiting, holding a bouquet and giving me that warm smile.

"Hey, beautiful."

Normally, that might’ve melted my heart, but not this time. I accepted the flowers in silence.

As we sat down and waited for our food, Niall started, "I’m really sorry I missed our anniversary dinner. I went to the awards show because my start-up supported it and I got a free pass. I only planned to stay for an hour, but then I ran into an old friend—Pamella. She’s a singer now."

He paused, probably waiting for my reaction, but I just listened, stone-faced.

"We caught up and then Pamella had a panic attack. She asked me to stay with her until the event was over. I muted my phone, so I didn’t realize you were trying to reach me. By the time I remembered, it was already 9 PM. I rushed to the restaurant, but you were gone."

I rolled my eyes, not buying it entirely. "So, what’s your relationship with Pamella?"

He shifted nervously, avoiding my gaze. "We were friends in college and we haven’t seen each other since graduation."

I pulled out my phone and showed him the viral video. "Your kissing video is everywhere. People are making a big deal about it."

Niall shook his head and replied, "Don’t listen to the internet. There’s nothing going on between us, it’s just for the show."

I wanted to believe him and for a moment, I did.

But when I got home, I started second-guessing. I called Sean, debating whether to cancel the whole thing and tell Margareta that there was nothing between Niall and Pamella. My gut was telling me to protect my relationship, but my head was still spinning.

When Sean answered, something in his tone made me doubt everything all over again.

"Emilie, I've got some bad news," Sean said over the phone. "I know he's your boyfriend because I just saw you two having dinner together."

I tensed up. Sean went on to explain that he and his team had followed Niall and Pamella that day. They had met up at a private country club, arriving in separate cars.

I gulped. "So, you know about my relationship now. Keep that under wraps, okay?"

Sean hesitated before asking, "Are you sure you want to go through with this investigation? You okay?"

I gritted my teeth and forced a calm tone. "Yeah, just keep digging. I can handle it."

My doubts about Niall's story were growing. I could not shake the feeling that there might be something more going on. Then I remembered Isaac, an old friend of Niall’s who I’d bumped into at the restaurant. I shot him a text, [Hi, Isaac. Sorry for the late message, but can we meet up tomorrow? I need to ask you something.]

He replied quickly, [Sure, let’s meet up.]