Chapter 12

EMILIA

The two weeks that followed were… different, to say the least.

After pictures of Liam and me surfaced, my life did a complete 180. As Zane’s fiancée, I had managed to stay under the radar. But since Zane and I had been together for so long, it didn’t take much for people to connect the dots and realize who I was.

Tess and I hadn’t expected this. While Liam’s fans were shocked by the photos—and sure, it was a great PR move—most of the attention wasn’t on him. It was on me.

I lost count of how many times I scrolled through social media, only to see people calling me a puck bunny, a gold digger, warning Liam to be careful. Then, my bakery’s location got leaked.

At first, people came just to catch a glimpse of Liam, lingering by the counter, eyes darting around like they expected him to stroll in at any moment. But after days of disappointment—and a few new policies that required customers to actually buy something to stay—the questions started.