Chapter 236

Madison

“Scarlett?” I nearly choked on my coffee. “Why would she—”

“Because I rejected her advances, and she doesn’t take rejection well.” He shrugged. “She thought creating rumors about us would force my hand, make me reach out to her.”

“That’s...” I searched for the right word. “Delusional.”

“Indeed.” His smile was cold. “She’ll be receiving a cease and desist letter this afternoon.”

The waiter arrived with my breakfast, temporarily halting our conversation. When he left, I leaned forward.

“What about the other articles? The ones about Penelope?”

“Those trace back to a former employee named Robert Griffin. He was fired last year for embezzlement.”

“And he’s been writing fake news about you as revenge?”

“Not writing—feeding information to journalists who don’t bother fact-checking.” Alexander’s voice was tight with controlled anger. “But Robert isn’t clever enough to orchestrate this alone. Someone’s backing him, possibly