Chapter 44

Kelsey POV

I tapped the tablet against the kitchen counter, grimacing at the latest headlines.

Surviving a kidnapping, fending off an attempted murder—and discovering I’d been declared someone else’s dead wife—was apparently still not enough to satisfy the internet.

Now they wanted to label me a fraud.

“Who is Kelsey Vance? Author’s mysterious tie to billionaire Garrison Sterling sparks rumors,” read one banner.

I swiped to the next. “Ken Sterling resurfaces—dead or alive?” Then another: “Con artist or lost heiress? The woman behind Sterling Tech’s new media empire.”

That last one almost impressed me.

“Lost heiress?” I murmured.

Garrison looked up from his coffee. “Stop reading that garbage.”

“Why not?” I scrolled slower. One article claimed my entire publishing career was a PR stunt he’d manufactured. Another theorized I’d never existed before reappearing in his life.

I set the tablet down. “Creative.”

Garriso