“They’re going to talk about you,” I whisper. “About you being my friend.”
“Let them,” she says simply. “I stopped listening to the tabloids a long time ago. They can say whatever they want. It doesn’t affect me. And it doesn’t have to affect you. We can’t control other people, Miranda. We can only control our own lives. And we’re happy in this life, right?”
“Until yesterday… yeah.”
She gives me a sad, knowing smile. “You’ll be happy again. This will blow over.”
Then she mutters under her breath, “I’ve always hated that Tracey bitch.”
A genuine laugh escapes me. “Yeah. Me too.”
We slip into normal conversation—movies, work, anything that isn’t drama. And for a while, it feels almost normal.
Eventually, Anna glances at the clock and sighs. “I have that interview withEntertainment Tonight.”
“Yeah.”
“I can cancel,” she offers.
“No. Don’t cancel it.”
She nods. “All right. I’ll call you tonight. But please—don’t worry.”
“Okay.”
She hugs me tight, kisses my cheek, and then she’s gone.
Leaving me in the quiet, alone with my thoughts.
I go back to pacing. Anna was a great distraction, and I’m glad she came over. Now, I wait.
When the front door finally opens, my heart jolts. Miles steps inside, and for a single, fragile second, I feel relief—real, visceral relief—just because he’s here. But then my brain snaps me back to reality. Good intentions or not, there is no universe where this can be fixed.
“Hey,” he says softly.
“Hey.” My response comes out small, quiet, because that’s all I have left.
Then he does something that completely disarms me.
He smiles. A real one. Warm and steady and heartbreakingly genuine—like he knows something I don’t.
“Let’s chat,” he says gently.
Before I can overthink, he takes my hand and guides me to the couch.
“Everything is taken care of,” he says.
I blink at him, brows pulling tight. “What do you mean, everything is taken care of?”
“Well,” he says, settling back into the cushions, “I talked with Penny this morning. You know Penny—she’s basically a magician when it comes to scrubbing the internet. She did a lot of work. Pulled strings. Contacted lawyers. And while it’s not all gone yet, it will be soon. And Tracey won’t be starting any more problems.”
My head shakes automatically. “I don’t understand.”
He squeezes my hand. “Penny filed a petition to sue Tracy for gross misconduct and falsifying information—basically for leaking everything to those influencers.”
I stare at him. “But it’s not a lie.”
“Yeah,” he says gently, “but here’s the thing. We don’t actually need to win the lawsuit. We just need the threat of it. Because we have the backing and the money to make it so long and so grueling that we’d bankrupt Tracey before she ever saw a courtroom. And she knows it.”
