Julie snatched her phone from Michael’s hand, and he pulled out his phone. “Crap, it’s Leon. I wonder what his problem is. He’s probably having more problems with Aria.” Michael said. His words came out in a grumbled before he answered the call. “Can it wait until the morning?” Michael asked. He wanted to keep talking to Julie and finally come to an agreement. “Nope, we need damage control, Mike. I’m sending you a link. Look at it now. You will not like it. I’m trying to find out who’s feeding this information to the journalist. But we can now get them on not verifying their facts.” Leon didn’t sound thrilled at making this call. “What are you talking about? I’m putting you on speakerphone. Julie is with me.” Michael said. He glared irritably at his phone and spoke to his friend. “You’ll want to take this call somewhere else. She will not hear this because it’s going to upset her.” Leon warned Michael before he even opened the link to the gos

“You’re really looking after this? Of course, you’re looking after this. It affects your reputation and image as much as mine. Your friend’s reputations and images are involved as well.” “Don’t let Leon hear you say that, Julie. He sees himself as your friend and never cannot tell me when I’m screwing up with you.” “Really? I guess you didn’t listen to him very much about that.” “After we married, we talked little because of the mess Aria pulled. Just because I told him he could take Aria, that didn’t mean I liked it. He thought he was saving everyone by taking her away. Leon wasn’t expecting Aria to latch on to him like she did. He confessed his interest in her, which sparked chaos in his life. When I realized what he went through about six months later, I was glad it was him and not me.” “Why did you allow her to return? If you were glad to have avoided that situation, why bring her back and string her along? “Two reaso

Leon arrived on time, and Julie caught sight of him. She saw Michael looking rumpled and unhappy, and then Leon, who appeared ready for war. He’d been the one to set up the downfall of the modelling agency staff and Aria’s manager for the drugs. Julie didn’t remember seeing Aria taking medication over the years they knew each other. She remembered rumours during school about Aria taking drugs. But she was sketchy on the details. Again, Aria’s life took precedence over hers with Michael. Julie hated it. She felt how unjust and one-sided it was. She hated being the one on the losing end again. The pretty blonde received all the attention, leaving Julie to fend for herself. Julie worried about disappointing Michael again, and this was the reason Julie believed she wasn’t worthy like Aria. She couldn’t work in this emotional state, and Julie unconsciously looked for something to do so she could avoid her work. Ju

Julie tried to get through her work, but try as she may, it wouldn’t happen. She’d have to send it off to Mike for editing as is. To stay on schedule, she had no other choice. The schedule became irrelevant when the publisher rejected the novel, but Mike’s popularity meant they still had to make appointments for him. It was something that kept her working and on schedule for other aspects of her writing. Deadlines helped, as did music. It didn’t work for everyone, but it worked for her. Unlike Michael, she could wear a set of earbuds with the music on softly, and Ms. Higgins could do as she pleased around the apartment. It wouldn’t bother her one bit. If the music was instrumental only. But today the music wasn’t cutting it. She changed playlists three times, but it didn’t help. Julie couldn’t forget the kitchen scene. She’d been rude to Michael and Leon. Michael’s only intention was to help her. All they discussed was how different she was from Aria.

Julie didn’t know what she walked into when she first opened Michael’s office door, but she wasn’t expecting to hear him go for the jugular of a representative of her publisher. She recognized who he worked for by the symbol on the wall, not his name. But there Michael sat, acting like they’d attacked him personally, and cancelled his contract with them, not hers. She felt a warm spot form in her chest from this discovery. Was this part of his plan to win her over? Julie felt indifferent but appreciated having someone on her side besides her few reliable allies. She’d expected that to happen for Aria with Leon there, and she couldn’t picture Michael doing this for her without seeing it herself. If someone told her, he’d done this, she more than likely wouldn’t have believed them. Julie was too busy listening to people defend her against the publisher’s representative and criticize the media’s gossip articles to speak. The veiled threats flew from Michael and his lawyer so