Page 69 of Until We Burn
They snicker. Only Sophia stays quiet. Her eyes stay on her pink satin shoes, while her thumb touches the scar slashing her palm.
Before I can think too much about it, the elevator door shuts, leaving me with an anger I have to repress if I want to keep my arrangement with Diana a secret.
CHAPTER 29
DIANA
“And DHUSA was like,‘All you do is report on shitty things we’ve done,’and I was like,‘Stop doing shitty things, then!’”
I smile behind my mug as the reporters laugh and holler at Candace’s rant about the Dharton Hall University Students Association. Her rants are notorious for being scathing and unhinged. But it’s just the relief we all need today.
In the last hour, we’ve gone through the stories we’re publishing this week for the print issue and the newscast. Now, we’re picking through story pitches for next week.
Well…we’re attemptingto, anyway. Candace’s pitches often run a little longer because of her ranting.
“I’m just saying, if you don’t want people thinking you’re a scammer, maybe stop looping first years into your pyramid schemes?”
My phone suddenly flashes on.
Insider sources say HMG heiress Diana Huang always envied Sasha Vellair’s success: ‘She wanted to take her down!’
I resist the urge to throw my phone before I delete the notification.These tabloid articles have been spewing lie after lie the last several weeks.
I’m a master manipulator who’s been scheming to destroy Sasha Vellair’s career since the very start.
Jealousy over Gregory’s flourishing career has driven me to the brink of insanity and sabotage.
But it doesn’t matter how comically insane these headlines are.
They’ve done their damage.
Less than half of the regular contributors have shown up to write for the Howler. The remaining few are occasional contributors trying to fill the empty spaces in each section. I’m grateful that they’re more intent on getting a byline in the Howler instead of trying to tarnish what little dignity my reputation has left.
Still, a blistering headache rages in my skull every time I see the rising number of tabloid articles and the dwindling number of reporters in the newsroom. A part of me knows that Andrea is somewhat responsible. Judging by how she dictated the fundraiser, I wouldn’t be shocked if she persuaded people to ditch the meeting today. I had hoped to achieve so much and prove I deserved my place as the Howler’s new editor-in-chief.
Now, it’s crumbling apart in so little time.
I wince, rubbing at the crease between my brows.
Between this, losing the public’s respect and my place in the joint project, and being excluded from the HMG’s succession plans indefinitely, I’m struggling to find a way to clear my name and go back to fighting for the CEO position.
Panic sinks inside me, drowning Candace’s voice into a distant muffle.
What if I don’t figure it out? What if I spend my whole life enduring the consequences of a lie? What if I never achieve or amount to anything ever again because of it?
My phone flashes on, displaying the time.
We’re down to the last ten minutes of the news meeting.
Focus, Diana. Focus.
I set down my phone and take one last sip of my tea. It grounds myspiraling thoughts, settling them down enough to let me gather my wits.
Put out one fire at a time.
I clap my hand against the table, reining their focus back.
“Okay!” I shout. “Candace, thank you for your…impassionedmonologues about DHUSA.”
