CHAPTER 20 Liar

  Mia

  New York

  I sat on the sofa, my emotions still in turmoil, while Bella gently caressed my back in a comforting gesture. Her words offered a glimmer of solace. "It's going to be okay," she reassured me.

  With a heavy sigh, I replied, "It's not. It's all over the news. Since the day I met Sebastian, my whole life has been turned upside down. Always in the gossip papers, always under scrutiny."

  Bella glanced at her phone, her fingers deftly swiping across the screen. "It's taken care of," she informed me. "I don't see it anymore. Sebastian must have handled it."

  I took a deep breath and looked at my phone, which had become a constant source of messages from concerned family members and friends - my mom, Sophia, and Sebastian among them. Each offered their support, but at that moment, what I needed most was space.