Chapter 8 The Leak

• ARYA'S POV
• There was silence between us before I remembered something.
• "Who was he?" I asked.
• "Who?" Logan responded as his car door was opened.
• "Mr. Harrington, he made you quite uncomfortable." I said as I entered the car.
• He didn't say another word to me, and I didn't press it.
• The drive was quiet.
• I looked out the window, admiring the trees and buildings I didn't get to admire while we were coming.
• In as much as I looked distracted, I definitely wasn't.
• I was thinking of a more undetectable way to sack the staffs who were bought off by Ethan.
• ****
• I didn't realise when we got to Logan's mansion.
• "You need to rest, I will meet with you tomorrow by 8:00 am sharp."
• I nodded.
• I dragged myself to my room, slumping on the bed the moment I got in.
• I was staring at the ceiling trying to figure out the perfect plan, but the thoughts of Carson keeps interrupting.
• My relationship with Carson was good at first, he was nice and sweet.
• He was my first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first everything.
• Everything between us was a bliss, well until it wasn't.
• He began asking for money, along with my gambling-addicted mother, who was so intent on draining me.
• At first, it didn't bother me.
• Besides we were dating and was planning to wed, giving him money to startup a business felt like I was doing it for myself too.
• How foolish I was to think someone as lazy as him would ever want to start a business.
• Everything I did for him, he treated like it was nothing more than a personal ATM he could access whenever he wanted.
• And when I stopped giving, his tone changed.
• I didn't stop giving because I wanted to, I loved him so much, if it was possible I would have sold a kidney for him.
• I stopped giving because money became tight, I barely had enough for myself and it was slowly killing my little firm.
• Once the money stopped coming, the sweetness faded first; slowly, almost unnoticeably.
• Then came the irritation and the anger. Then the demands that no longer sounded like requests.
• It was as if the version of Carson I fell in love with had only existed to secure access to me.
• I turned on my side, pulling the blanket over my shoulders, but sleep didn’t come.
• Instead, more memories did.
• His voice replayed in my head. The way he used to say my name so softly at the beginning.
• The way he smiled when I believed him without question.
• The way he stopped looking at me like a person and started looking at me like some sort of bank.
• And then...? Well, that was when he started pulling me into his game of scamming the rich.
• When I realised it, it was almost too late.
• That was when I had enough.
• I remember that night like it was yesterday.
• The night I broke up with him.
• He had slapped me, twice, but that was better than what I had expected him to do.
• And my mother… she wasn’t any better.
• She always had an excuse. Always an unforeseen crisis.
• Always a reason why I had to send “just a little more.” But the “little” never stayed little. It grew daily.
• Once she had accumulated an overwhelming sum of debt, she ran away with her lover.
• Sometimes I wish she were dead, because it doesn’t feel any different.
• I closed my eyes tightly.
• My thoughts shifted.
• "I need to think of something." I muttered to myself.
• My phone buzzed on the bedside table, snapping me out of my thoughts. I reached for it immediately.
• A message.
• An Unknown Number.
• {You think you’re safe now?}
• My stomach churned.
• Another buzz followed almost instantly.
• {You’ve only made things worse for yourself, Arya.}
• I sat up slowly, my grip tightening around the phone.
• {What do you think would happen to your fiancé business if the news of who his fiancée is, a poor girl with a gambling addicted mother who once scammed the rich alongside her ex boyfriend}
• My heart sank.
• I quickly blocked the number, then immediately switched off my phone.
• The thought of Logan being dragged into all this was what scared me the most.
• I don't mind if it was just me, but now...
• I quickly headed for the bathroom.
• Had a quick shower, got dressed in a pyjamas, and left in search of Logan.
• I didn't know which was his particular room, so I called out his name while I walked down the corridor.
• “Logan?”
• My voice echoed faintly through the quiet hallway, swallowed almost immediately by the silence of the mansion.
• The place felt even larger at night, and a little bit scary too.
• I paused near one of the doors I suspected led to his room.
• What if he was asleep?
• I bit my lip, my hand hovering just inches away from the handle. I shouldn’t be doing this. I knew I shouldn’t. But the message kept replaying in my head like a broken record.
• My fingers curled into a fist.
• No. I couldn’t deal with this alone tonight.
• I knocked lightly.
• “Logan… are you in there?”
• A few seconds passed.
• Then I heard movement from inside.
• "Are you awake?"
• “Come in,” his voice replied, calm but slightly rough, like he’d been resting.
• I pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside.
• Logan was sitting on the edge of the bed, shirt slightly unbuttoned, hair tousled in a way that suggested I had indeed interrupted his rest. His eyes lifted to me immediately, sharpening the moment he saw my expression.
• “You look like something happened,” he said softly.
• I closed the door behind me, suddenly aware of how fast my heart was beating.
• “Something did,” I replied quietly. "And I think I will have to leak some information to the press this night."
• His expression changed instantly.
• "What happened?"
• I hesitated, then walked further into the room, holding my phone tightly in my hand like it might burn me.
• “I’ve been getting messages,” I said. “An unknown number. One I suspect is probably Carson."
• “What does the message say?” he asked.
• "He threatened to reveal things about me, my mom and our ended relationship to the press."
• I paused.
• "I don't mind that, the problem is how it will affect you."
• “I don’t know what lies he’s going to tell, so I’ve decided to reveal it first in a way that makes people pity me instead of fighting against me.”
• For a moment, there was silence.
• Then Logan smiled, "I knew hiring you wasn't a mistake."
• “I actually know the perfect person who will write the story,” he said very calmly.
• He reached for his phone and made a brief call.
• He walked toward the huge desk at the side of his room and opened his laptop.
• “Write your story here, and don’t worry, he knows how to make it look like an accidentally leaked story.”
• I nodded as I sat on the chair.
• I told my story the way it was; a vulnerable forensic accountant who was fooled by love and family.
• The story was sent with a blurred photo of Carson, and within about twenty minutes, it was published.
• “That was fast,” I said the moment the news popped up on the screen.
• “I told you it would,” he replied.
• “Thanks,” I said, standing up.
• “Goodnight,” I added as I walked toward the door.
• “And one more thing,” Logan said, stopping me dead in my tracks.
• “Leave the worrying to me.”