Chapter 239 - Bullshit!

Inside the bedroom, Sonia lay on the bed with her head resting on Bryan's chest, while he patted her hair gently.

"This feels like a dream," Sonia murmured, holding him close as if she was scared that he was going to disappear.

"Aww, you're in love," Bryan said in a teasing tone, and Sonia giggled as she hit his arm playfully.

"It's not funny!" Sonia chided him, and then she sat up to look into his face when she remembered that they weren't here on a vacation.

Seeing the sudden seriousness in her eyes, Bryan sat up with a sigh, "Okay. What were you saying about a scandal?" 

"It's about our relationship being fake. The article says we deceived everyone into believing that we are a couple, and the companies that sponsored the reality show are calling you out. Your endorsement deals may be canceled and you will have to pay for breaching the contract," Sonia explained with a frown.

"At least we both know our relationship isn't fake," Bryan said lightly.

"That isn't the point right now. We did deceive everyone," Sonia pointed out.

"And the crux of the matter is whether or not our relationship is fake. It is not," Bryan countered, and reached out to smoothen the creases on her brow with his hand.

"Relax, babe. I will take care of it," he assured her with a small smile, but Sonia was having none of it.

"How will you take care of it? This is all my fault. If I had not ended things, and left the way I did, this wouldn't have happened," Sonia complained.

"Says who? Don't worry about it, and just trust me, alright? I will take care of it," Bryan promised, and they both turned to the door when they heard a knock.

"Mind if I come in? Bryan, Tom needs you in the living room," Lucy said without opening the door.

"Reality calls," Sonia murmured to Bryan, "You can come in baby," she called back to Lucy as she jerked her head towards the door for Bryan to leave.

"Baby? I thought I was your only baby?" Bryan asked with a scowl. 

"Apparently, you thought wrong," Sonia said with a giggle as she pushed him off the bed.

"I thought wrong, huh?" Bryan asked in a threatening tone and snapped his finger at her before walking away.

Lucy walked in with Sonia's cellphone as Bryan walked out, "I forgot to give it to you earlier. Your editor has been calling," she said as she handed the phone to Sonia, and sat down on the bed next to her.

"You both have reconciled, right?" Lucy asked hopefully, and Sonia gave her a wide smile.

"Yes, we have. He came over to help resolve things quickly so that I can go back home with him," Sonia said with a happy smile.

"Home, huh? I guess you'll be getting married to him after all," Lucy said with a smile as she watched her friend. Although things weren't going so well for her at the moment, she was happy to see that Sonia was happy.

Sonia sighed, "Let's just clear up all this mess before talking about anything else," Sonia said, suddenly feeling guilty that she was happy while Lucy's issue was still unresolved.

"About that, you won't believe that one of my neighbors..." Lucy was interrupted by the sound of Sonia's ringtone.

"I need to take this," Sonia said when she saw that it was a call from Mia.

"Sure. I should probably give Lucas a call so that they wouldn't be worried about my sudden disappearance," Lucy said as she excused Sonia.

"Hey!" Sonia greeted once she received Mia's call. 

"Is this Miss Smith?" An unfamiliar masculine voice asked, and Sonia's brows creased in confusion as she pulled the phone back to confirm that it was Mia who had called her. Why was someone else with the phone?

"Yes. Who am I speaking with?" She asked cautiously.

"This is Paul Williams. The CEO of golden stars entertainment agency," he introduced himself making Sonia's heart skip a beat. 

"Oh, hello!"

"I suppose you have seen the news all over the internet concerning your false engagement to Bryan?" He asked in a cool voice.

"Yes, I have."

"Mia claims that you're in love with Bryan. Is that right?" He asked, and Sonia swallowed nervously, as her heartbeat increased.

"Yes. I am."

"I see. If you love him as you claim, and you don't want to ruin his career like you're already doing, I will suggest that you take the fall for all of this. Give out a statement informing everyone that you emotionally blackmailed him into proposing to you. You are a writer so I'm sure you can come up with something interesting and convincing. Tell them you approached Bryan and asked him to help you because you wanted fame, and out of the kindness of his heart he obliged," the CEO said in a commanding tone.

"But he..."

"There are no buts. All three companies with which he signed endorsement deals for the reality show have called to cancel their endorsements, and several other companies are still calling to cancel theirs. They all want to be compensated because they feel they have been deceived. This isn't good for Bryan's career, and if you care about him as you have said, then you will do the right thing for him by taking the blame," Mr. Williams paused, "If you had rejected his proposal or stayed away from him after that, he wouldn't have hurt his ankle, and none of this would have happened in the first place," he added in an accusatory tone that told Sonia that he blamed her for all of Bryan's present predicament. 

Sonia took in a deep breath. If she didn't love Bryan, she would have responded appropriately to the senseless accusation, but she loved him and cared about his career. She had no idea what Bryan had up his sleeves, but she doubted that he could make this all go away easily. 

"I hope you will do the right thing for him," the CEO said and hung up before Sonia could respond.

Once she heard the disconnect tone, her hand fell to her side, and she sighed. He was right. If anyone was to take the fall for this, then it had to be her. She was nothing compared to Bryan who was an A-list celebrity. And she knew that it was very easy for public love to be transformed to hate.

What could she do? Bryan had asked her to let him handle it, and she didn't want to have another fight with him over making a decision on her own. Should she tell him what was going on? Perhaps she should, and maybe they could put their heads together to find a solution. 

Just as she headed for the door to join the others, her phone started ringing again, and she paused when she saw that the call was from her editor this time. She had been surprised when she didn't receive a call from him the previous day.

Sonia took in a deep breath before receiving the call. She knew that whatever he was going to say to her wasn't going to be pleasant, "Hi!"

"Is it true?" Her editor asked in a tight voice without bothering to exchange pleasantries with her. 

"Is what true?" Sonia asked cautiously, and she could imagine him closing his eyes when she heard him breathe in and out.

"Is it true that you approached Bryan Hank to engage you so that you would get the public's attention and generate more sales for your books?" He asked angrily, making Sonia's heart skip a beat.

"Where did you hear that?" Sonia asked in surprise. She had only just discussed it with Mr. Williams, how come her editor was asking about it? 

"That doesn't answer my question!" He snapped at her in annoyance.

"Did you deceive me and everyone else about being engaged to Bryan Hank just so you can become famous? You were riding on his coattail?" He asked in annoyance since he could still remember how he suggested to her that they invite Bryan to their book signing event, and she had turned him down saying she didn't want to use him, yet she had been using him the whole time.

Before she could think of what to say, the bedroom door opened almost immediately and Bryan walked in, "What is taking so long, babe?" Bryan asked, and then one look at her face he could tell that something was wrong. He further confirmed it when he noticed the slight tremble of her hands. 

"What is wrong? Who are you speaking with?" He asked as he approached her.

Sonia swallowed past the lump in her throat as she looked back at him. Of course, she could take any blame for him. She cared about him that much. But she wasn't going to do that if it was going to cost her their relationship.

Seeing how she was staring at him, Bryan plucked the phone from her hand and checked to see who she was speaking with. He raised a brow when he saw that it was her editor, and he raised the phone to his ear, "Is there a problem?" He asked curiously.

"Mr. Hank?" Sonia's editor asked in confusion.

"Yes, this is Bryan. Is there a problem? What did you say to upset her?" Bryan asked with displeasure.

"I thought you both ended things... Didn't she call off the engagement?" The editor asked in confusion since he had watched the clip. 

"That still doesn't answer my question," Bryan pointed out, sounding slightly irritated now.

The editor had a frown on his face as he didn't understand what was going on, "Maybe you should check the internet. Your agency just released a press statement regarding your relationship with Sonia. Let her know I will call her back some other time," the editor said, and hung up the call Immediately.

Once the call dropped, Bryan glanced at Sonia who was now seated on the bed, staring at him with a blank expression on her face, before going to search for the statement that his agency had released.

He scanned through the article which talked about how Sonia had approached Bryan and had pleaded with him to help her become famous by being in a relationship with her. And it went on to say how Bryan had fallen in love with Sonia in the process, yet she dumped him after she became famous, going from having just about four thousand followers on Instagram, to having over four million followers because of her relationship with Bryan.

"This is bullshit," Bryan hissed angrily as he threw the phone on the bed, "I'm going to call them right now to take this shit down," Bryan said as he turned to leave so he could go get his phone. 

"Don't! This will turn the public's opinion in your favor. It is better..." 

"Please, shut up!" Bryan cut in angrily as he turned to look at her.

"What do you mean by that? Do I look like a coward who would let his woman take the fall for something he did? I walked up to you and proposed to you, and you accepted me. It is no damn person's business how long I've known you before proposing to you. I'm in love with you and I don't give a fuck what anyone else thinks or has to say about it.. And you had better get any funny ideas you're having out of your head!" Bryan snapped at her before walking away.