Chapter 2 The Unintended Engagement

I regained my composure with that breath, I hardly could add in another word but "Thanks, Emma. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I will warn you, though. Don't get caught up in this," Emma said with a more serious voice. "Things can get messy."

"Of course I know," I said quietly. "But I have no other option. I can't lose Sweet Crumbs. Not like this."

My heart raced as I ended the call. I knew that I had made a wild and possibly disastrous decision, but this was the first time all day that I felt in control of things. I had a plan, and perhaps it could even work.

Glancing out, I saw Dales that stretched before me, an idyllic town now asleep. I could see nothing ahead, only a storm brewing. But until then, it was going to have to live as a lie. I would make it happen, damn the consequences.

The next morning was just another morning, silent, efficient, and predictable to me, as usual. I woke up in my penthouse, with the city skyline outside my windows, as a reminder of how far I'd come. Everything was in its place, exactly how I liked it. And then my phone buzzed.

I rose and picked up the phone, expecting to find a simple work email or a business update. On the screen was a tsunami of notifications, texts, emails, and social media alerts. And my stomach dropped as I read the subject line from my PR team: "Urgent: Tabloid Headline About You; Please Review Immediately."

My first instinct was to dismiss it. Probably more made-up nonsense. But when I opened the email and saw the headline, I froze.

"Billionaire Baker! Alexander Westfield Finds Love in Dales."

A photograph of Lily Monroe flashed on the screen-his smiling face outside her bakery, Sweet Crumbs. It was not the photo that has stopped me in my tracks. It was the caption; the words that followed:

"Sources confirm that Westfield's recent acquisition of Sweet Crumbs Bakery was not merely a business move but rather a romantic gesture towards his fiancée, Lily Monroe. The two, previously spotted together during Westfield's visit to the town last week, are reportedly now engaged for a few weeks..."

I couldn't process it at first. Engaged? Fiancée? I stared at the words, disbelief settling in. I had barely spoken to Lily let alone proposed to her. We exchanged pleasantries and discussed the bakery but then again nothing more. This was all a lie.

I read the article through, heart racing, as it painted a picture of me as some sort of romantic hero, one who had bought a bakery not for business but to protect the woman he loved.

I found it absurd. I did not know Lily beyond the basics, and yet the media was constructing this whole narrative around it.

The phone went flying to the bed, my mind racing. "This is ridiculous," I muttered to myself. "No way this is happening."

Before I could even grasp entirely what it was about, my office door opened.

In stepped Marcus Sterling, my assistant, his countenance already showing a blend of concern and professionalism. Never much fazed by anything, but that look on his face told me everything I needed to know.

"You've seen this, I take it?" he asked, waving his tablet to show me the same article.

I rubbed my temples. "Everywhere, isn't it?"

Marcus nodded. "It's everywhere. Social media's running with it, bringing in mainstream media. The story about you 'saving' her bakery has utterly gone viral."

I leaned back in my chair, running a hand through my hair. "This is a disaster. A total disaster."

Marcus exhaled, tone measured. "Your PR team's already on it, but it will be tough to control. The media will paint you as a savior in a love story, and Lily is part of that narrative, whether she signed on or not."

"Lily..." I whispered her name. Things started falling into place. It wasn't just within that one tabloid that misrepresented this story-it was the entire town of Dales, the entire globe. I had no inkling just how it got this far.

"That's going to take a serious damage control operation," Marcus said. "You need to get it, and you need to get it very, very soon. Allow it to go unchecked, and it could spiral."

I leaned closer and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I really need to hurry and get in front of this before it completely derails. Do we have any idea how this got started?"

Marcus kept still, narrowing his eyes as he seemed deep in thought. "A local tabloid first picked it up, and then it must have been leaked to them from the town. You're going to Dales, the bakery, and this supposed 'engagement' came together in a perfect storm."

The unfair life hung a curse on my tongue under it. This was what I needed last, even at a time when I had more important things to worry about. My company was going through tough negotiations. It was pretty serious, and all this nonsense could ruin everything.

"I'll take care of all the PR business," Marcus stated, "But you would have to face Lily. She's right in the middle of this, like it or not."

I hadn't expected Marcus to say that. "What do you mean, deal with Lily?"

"Well," said Marcus, whose tone had at once become cautious, "You need to talk to her. There's no way around that. This is either a misunderstanding or a totally fabricated story; clear the air."

I stood, frustration spinning in my head. "I don't even know what to say to her. I never signed up for this at all."

Marcus nodded, understanding. "I know. But you're going to have to sort that out, or it's going to escalate."

I paced back and forth in my room, feeling the weightiness of the whole issue on my person. I would have to find Lily, confront her, and attempt to persuade her into undoing the mess she had created. But deep inside me was this sinking feeling that this was going to be a far more difficult task than it sounded.