When Love Becomes Past Tense Chapter 12

"You don't know shit!"

"I'll kill you first!"

A long time later, Caleb seemed to get hold of a microphone.

His voice boomed loudly.

"Listen up, everyone—"

"I, Caleb Sterling, am a scumbag. She, Sienna Blake, is a whore. I betrayed my fiancée with her. Don't get the story twisted. Hazel didn't do a single thing wrong..."

"It was me. I was garbage. I lost her..."

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

I didn't care much. I just hung up the phone.

Roman entangled himself around me from behind, asking nothing, pulling me down into the web he wove.

A night of warmth.

I slept deeply and peacefully, unaware of the massive waves crashing across the internet.

I only found out the next morning while scrolling through X (formerly Twitter).

#SterlingHeirAdmitsCheating

#SiennaBlakeIsTheOtherWoman

#SterlingGroupStockPlummets

These three hashtags dominated the top three spots. I scrolled through a random comment thread and realized they hadn't dropped all morning.

Caleb didn't have public social media accounts, but Sienna did.

I scrolled through her comments with amusement.

It was spectacular.

Netizens hate mistresses, especially the ones who know exactly what they're doing.

Sienna’s comment section was a war zone, flooded with insults and mockery.

For some reason, the Sterling Group’s PR team hadn't stepped in yet, allowing the stock to freefall.

Conservatively speaking, the Sterling Group's market value had evaporated by hundreds of millions of dollars this morning alone.

Caleb was actually letting this happen?

Just then, Roman walked in with breakfast on a tray.

He set the tray down, naturally picked me up, and carried me to the bathroom.

While brushing my teeth, I asked vaguely through the foam, "This thing with Caleb... did you do it?"

Roman gave a hum of affirmation. "I manipulated the stock price. I didn't get around to the trending topics though; he bought those himself."

I was a bit surprised. "He didn't take them down? He paid to keep them up?"

"Has he lost his mind?"

Roman steadied my waist to keep me from slipping as I turned, his tone flat. "He's probably proving something to you, punishing himself."

"Why? Feeling sorry for him?"

I knew this jealous man was being possessive again.

I spit out the foam and scoffed.

"Psychopath."

I was referring to Caleb.

Then, remembering something, I asked Roman, "According to novels, when a competitor messes up this badly, shouldn't you guys do something?"

Roman gestured for me to continue.

"Acquisition? Merger? Hostile takeover?"

I got more excited as I spoke.

"Go finish him!"

Roman wiped my face, and I didn't miss the faint smile in his eyes.