Chapter 29 – Tangled Threads
Chapter 29 – Tangled Threads
The morning after the gala brought a kind of chaos that even the elite couldn’t control. It started with a single click.
The tabloids were relentless.
“Billionaire Damon Moretti Caught in Midnight Rendezvous With Mysterious Brunette!” “Heiress Aurora Luciano and Former Flame Luca Volkov Cozy Up At Charity Gala!”
The pictures were damning—Damon, frozen mid-smile as Celeste whispered something into his ear; Aurora and Luca dancing closely, her hand resting on his chest. Cropped perfectly, timed maliciously.
Aurora stared at her phone screen in disbelief. Her stomach churned.
[Aurora] She scrolled, unable to stop. A hundred retweets. A thousand likes. And the comments—
Looks like Aurora's moved on fast. Poor Damon, she’s playing the field. Celeste is an upgrade, no cap.
Each word bit deeper than the last. The night had been harmless. A dance. A shared laugh. Yet here she was, painted as a flirtatious heiress playing two powerful men.
She hurled her phone across the bed, breathing hard.
Luca knocked lightly before pushing the door open.
“I saw,” he said softly. “They’re twisting everything.”
Aurora sat upright. “You think I did something wrong?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I think... I think you looked happy with me last night, and someone didn’t like that.”
She rubbed her temple. “Damon.”
Luca hesitated. “If it is him... he’s not letting you go.”
She looked away, unsure of how to feel about that truth.
---
[Damon]
Meanwhile, Damon stormed through the Moretti penthouse, phone in hand, jaw clenched. He tossed it onto the marble counter, nearly cracking the screen.
Celeste stood a few feet away, arms crossed, watching him.
“You think I planned this?” she asked quietly.
He looked up, eyes sharp. “Didn’t you?”
“No,” she said, stepping forward. “But... it’s not the worst thing that could happen. People think we’re a couple. Maybe that’s not so bad.”
His gaze turned glacial. “Don’t mistake proximity for potential, Celeste.”
Her face fell, but she held her ground. “You’re hurting, Damon. I get it. But you don’t have to keep treating me like a placeholder for the girl you can’t have.”
That stung. Because she was right.
“I need air,” he muttered and stormed out.
---
Later that evening, the PR war raged on.
Aurora’s father, recently exonerated and trying to rebuild his image, called her in fury.
“You’re not a child anymore, Aurora,” he snapped. “Your name is in headlines again, and this time it’s not about our company. It’s about you. You know what that does to our family image?”
She wanted to scream. Instead, she hung up.
---
Across town, Damon met with his media advisor.
“We suggest a subtle public response. A picture of you and Celeste having coffee. Nothing dramatic—just... relatable.”
“Relatable?” he said with disgust.
“People love you when you’re unattainable and still human. Show that you’re moving on.”
Damon laughed bitterly. “What if I don’t want to move on?”
“Then act like you do until she realizes what she lost.”
But that was the problem.
She hadn’t lost him. He had lost her.
---
[Later That Week]
The charity foundation released behind-the-scenes footage from the gala—intended as a soft PR piece.
In the clip, Damon could be seen looking across the ballroom at Aurora as she laughed with Luca. The expression on his face was... vulnerable. Real.
And someone caught it.
A viral tweet paired the clip with the caption:
That’s not a man in love with his date. That’s a man watching the woman he loves love someone else.
The internet exploded.
Celeste saw it and nearly cried.
---
[Celeste]
She knew. She had known for weeks, but this... this was public confirmation of something she wasn’t ready to accept. Damon had never looked at her like that. Ever.
She closed her laptop. Her heart pounded.
He was still hers. Not in body, but in the way his soul kept orbiting the name Aurora like a doomed planet. And she... was just a moon, reflecting borrowed light.
---
[Luca]
“Are you okay?” he asked Aurora after the video trended.
She shook her head. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“He still loves you. Everyone can see it.”
“And I’m supposed to do what with that?” she asked. “Forget everything that happened?”
“No,” Luca said softly. “You’re supposed to choose what hurts less—missing him or loving him again.”
She stared at him, speechless.
---
[Damon & Aurora]
A week passed. Neither made a move.
Until the fashion expo in Milan.
They were both invited—expected to appear. Separate entourages. Separate statements. But the organizers had placed them on the same front row.
When Aurora entered, the air shifted. Her navy dress shimmered like moonlight on water. Damon turned, and for a second, the world stilled.
Then, flashbulbs erupted.
“Damon! Aurora! One photo together?”
They stood side by side for the cameras. Too close. Too aware.
“Smile,” she whispered.
“I don’t remember how,” he replied.
That night, they both went home alone. But neither slept.
And when the morning came, a new headline rose:
“Are Damon and Aurora Reuniting?”
They weren’t.
Not yet.
But the spark had never died.
And some fires never stay buried for long.
---
A surprise press leak reveals an intimate voicemail from Damon to Aurora—one he never sent. One someone else leaked. And it changes everything.