Chapter 36

Author's POV The trending topic hit like a slap to the face—loud, unexpected, and way too public. By the time Mark stumbled across it, Julian's name was already glued to Aria's like they were some tragic pop ballad duo, and the internet was eating it up like it had waited all year for this drama. He grabbed his phone to call the PR team, but the person on the other end barely let him say a word. "It's already been removed." Mark froze. "Removed? By who?" "No idea. Not us. It was gone before we even logged in." He hung up, brows furrowing in that special kind of irritation reserved for things that made absolutely no sense. His gaze drifted to Julian, sprawled across the couch like he didn't have a single urgent thought in his head. Julian caught the look and sighed, deadpan. "What? Don't give me that face. I didn't start this fire." All he had done was say something quietly to Aria while pushing her out the door, which somehow got twisted into a scandalous ‘intimate moment' between them