Chapter 9 Broken Promises

> "I trusted him. And he disappeared."

A betrayal.

A silence.

And a goodbye she never thought she'd write.

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The article dropped at 6:12 AM.

A sharp, viral blade dressed in sleek digital headlines.

> "Sleeping with the Story: Inside Julian Vale's Intimate Relationship With His Ghostwriter."

Alora woke up to 17 missed calls. Her phone buzzed violently on her nightstand, but she couldn't bring herself to reach for it. Her heart had already dropped. She knew.

The photo at the top of the article was blurry-but real.

It showed her and Julian through the library window.

Her in his sweater.

Him playing the piano.

The way he looked at her-like the world had gone quiet.

They hadn't even touched.

But the intimacy was undeniable.

The piece was cruel. Twisting facts. Weaponizing details. Suggesting she seduced him for access. Framing the memoir as a PR distraction. A fake redemption arc.

Julian's team released a vague statement denying "romantic involvement."

But not a word from Julian himself.

Not a call.

Not a message.

Not anything.

Alora stared at her laptop, throat tight, stomach hollow.

He promised me truth, she thought. He promised me I'd be seen.

But now, she felt erased.

Discredited.

Used.

Alone.

The door to her guesthouse swung open at 8:03 AM.

Julian stood there, rain-soaked and unshaven, eyes wild with something between fury and regret.

"You weren't supposed to see that headline before I got here," he said hoarsely.

Alora stood slowly, hands trembling. "I wasn't supposed to see it at all, Julian."

"I didn't leak it."

"But you didn't protect me either."

He flinched.

"I needed time to respond. I was handling damage control-"

"You were protecting yourself!" she snapped. "Your board. Your image. Your empire."

"That's not fair-"

"No," she cut him off, voice breaking, "what's not fair is that you pulled me into your world, made me believe I mattered, and then when everything went public... I became your liability."

Julian crossed the room in two quick steps, voice strained. "You are not a liability."

"Then why didn't you defend me?"

He looked at her like the truth was burning a hole through his ribs. "Because I didn't know how to defend something I'm terrified of losing."

She froze.

"I care about you," he said, softer now. "So much it scares me."

Tears welled in her eyes. "You don't get to say that now."

"I didn't want to put a target on you," he whispered. "Didn't want to make you the headline. I was trying to buy time."

"Well, time ran out," she whispered back. "And you broke the one thing we had left-trust."

Silence wrapped around them.

Julian's shoulders dropped.

"I wanted to keep you safe, Alora."

She wiped a tear from her cheek. "What I needed was for you to stand beside me. Not hide behind me."

And then-before he could answer-she walked past him, out into the storm, the article still open on her screen.

And Julian?

He let her go.

Not because he wanted to.

But because he finally realized...

some promises aren't broken by accident.

They're broken by fear.

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😭 Darling... this was the fall before the finale. The crash before the rewrite.

Next is the final chapter:

Chapter Ten: Rewrite Us

The ending. The confrontation. The choice.

Do they burn out... or rise from the ashes?