Page 83 of #Starstruck

Please don’t let her say anything stupid,I begged.Please.

But apparently no one heard my plea.

Hoping I could get her away from Chase and explain the situation to her, I said, “Stephanie! I didn’t know you’d be here. Have you tried the dessert bar yet? It’s supposed to be amazing.”

She ignored the last part. “The SSLF was kind enough to invite several heads of ocean-related charities to the event. It’s been an excellent way to network.”

When she said that, I knew I was done for.

“Mr.Covington? I’m so glad to meet you. I’m Stephanie Barber. I’m Zoe’s boss.” She offered him her hand, and not realizing what was about to happen, he shook it enthusiastically. I felt like an extra in a zombie movie. Where the zombie was slowly shuffling toward me, but instead of running away, I just stood there in dread, waiting for my life to be over. “I heard about your relationship with our Zoe, and I’m so hopeful you’ll be able to attend the Ocean Life Foundation fund-raiser next month. I’m sure she’s told you all about it.”

My mouth dropped, and my insides constricted. Heard about our relationship? How? No one knew.

And I most definitely had not told him anything about the fund-raiser.

“Zoe?” Chase asked, looking confused.

“Chase, it’s not—”

Stephanie interrupted me before I could explain. “We’re having a bit of a competition at our organization to see which intern can land the biggest celebrity. And I think Zoe might win that, don’t you?” She had a laugh that reminded me of a hyena mixed with a donkey, but all I could think about was how she was destroying everything, given the way Chase’s face had fallen. “I mean, who’s a bigger star than you? I told Zoe we could assure her a place at the Foundation after graduation if she could help us nab a big name. And here you two are.”

“It’s not like that,” I tried to tell him. She’d made it sound like I’d been scheming and plotting and using him.

Stephanie handed him her business card and said, “I’ll have Zoe give you all the details, but please don’t hesitate to call me anytime if you have any questions.”

As if she didn’t care about the nuclear bomb she’d just lobbed into my life, she walked away blissfully unaware, stalking her next victim.

“Is it true?” Chase asked, his face cold and impassive.

“No! I mean, yes, the things she said were true, but that is not why I—”

“Chase, you need to see what just popped up in my alerts.” Aaron approached with his phone out and showed it to Chase. Aaron shot me a dirty look, which bewildered me. What had I ever done to him? “I thought One-F had her sign an NDA. I warned you about dating someone we hadn’t thoroughly vetted.”

What now?

Before I could ask what was going on, Chase turned the phone toward me. “Care to explain?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

HOMEWRECKING WHORE DESTROYS CHAMELIA!

ENZ can exclusively report that Chase Covington, 25, has been carrying on an affair with college student Zoe Miller from Marabella, California. The 22-year-old vixen has been seen coming and going at all hours from Covington’s Hollywood Hills home. A source states, “Obviously Amelia’s beside herself. Totally devastated and inconsolable. She doesn’t know how Chase could have done this to her.” Recently leaked photos show Covington and Miller at Disneyland and in other private moments.

My hands shook as I stopped reading the article and scrolled down. And there were the photos Braden had taken on Chase’s phone. Along with the pictures Chase had texted me, like the one of him in his hotel bed, the one of his arm.

There was even a picture of my driver’s license, with my personal information blacked out.

“I don’t know how this happened. I didn’t share these with anyone.”

The expression on Chase’s face filled my stomach with shards of ice. He plucked the cell phone out of my hand and gave it back to Aaron. Then Chase took me by the elbow and steered me away from the ballroom. He found a small conference room with the door unlocked. `

Once he shut the door, he released my arm, like he couldn’t bear to touch me. “How could you do this?”

“I didn’t do this. I swear to you.” My knees felt weak, my pulse frantic and irregular. It was one thing to have my privacy completely invaded but quite another to have Chase accuse me of being responsible for it.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “The only two people in the entire world who have these pictures are you and me. And I know I didn’t sell these to ENZ.”

“I didn’t, either.”

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