Page 101 of Bared Betrayal

“Did you see?” He steps out of the elevator and brushes past me.

“Did I see what?”

“It’s all over the fucking news.”

I frown. “What is all over the news?”

“Kallie.” He weaves his fingers together behind his head, stretching his elbows out. “Her face is everywhere.”

“What?” I rush to my laptop that’s open on the kitchen counter, fingers flying over the keyboard.

Fuck.

Kallie is everywhere. I open a fuckton of tabs, pulling up one breaking news article after another.

SEBASTIAN STONE ENGAGED TOTHEKALLIANA PEARSON.

HOW DID THIS PEARSON SISTER HIDE FROM THE WORLD FOR SO LONG?

I sit on the barstool as pictures of her as a child pop up. It’s hard to look at knowing what she went through, knowing how tortured she was with all these cameras in her face twenty-four-seven. Instead of giving her time and space to heal, they made everything worse by not letting her forget. They turned her pain into a goddamn media circus.

There are so many articles. All with different headlines and angles. Some call hers a Cinderella story—going from a childhood victim to the woman who captured Sebastian Stone’s heart. Others paint her as a gold digger, sinking her claws into the man who has become the newest Hollywood sensation. This isn’t one reporter with a lead trying to make a mark. This has been intentionally blasted across the news community. There are TikTok videos about her with millions of views, for Christ’s sake.

“It’s everywhere,” Sebastian says behind me. “There’s a goddamn mob downstairs who all followed me here asking to speak to Kalliana Pearson. Whether she’ll be making a statement soon now that she’s been found.”

I turn to face him. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know.” His eyes grow wide. “I haven’t seen her since…”

“Since what, Sebastian?”

He curls his top lip, pain flashing in his eyes. “Since she broke up with me.”

“When? How long ago did you see her?”

“Dad—”

My heart constricts. It’s the first time I’ve heard him call me Dad.

“—I said things to her. Things I didn’t mean.”

“What did you do?” I grab him by the collar, lifting him onto his fucking toes. “What did you do?”

“Nothing! I did nothing, I swear. She broke it off, and I left, figuring it was cold feet and she would calm the fuck down and come to her senses.”

I let go of him with a jerk, trying to fucking think straight.

“About an hour ago, my phone started going apeshit about Kallie being this Kalliana Pearson who got kidnapped with her sister.” He frowns as if he can’t believe the words he’s saying out loud. “And then my agent calls me saying we need to put together a press release asap, but I can’t fucking find her.”

“No!” I snap. “No one is saying anything to the press until we find her.”

“I have to say something.”

“You don’t say shit to anyone,” I bite out through clenched teeth. “Do you understand? Not a fucking word.”

“I came to you because I know you have the connections and resources to help me find her. Once I find her, we’ll make a statement and get it all sorted out.”

“You will do no such thing.” I press my finger into his chest, and he falters back. “You are going to keep your mouth shut.”