Turns out, we most definitely can't do slow.

Aiden had practically moved into my house the next morning, making toast and coffee for me before I even woke up. This wasn't something that I had ever experienced before and the thought made me almost burst into tears. I looked at my tracking app, and sure enough, the Red Wedding was arriving next week. But the thoughtfulness of the action is what counted. This man had a private cook who would make anything and everything he asked her for. And he woke on my first alarm, even when I told him it was just a warning, figured out where things were in my kitchen, and made the usual breakfast I ate.

I had savoured the last twenty minutes of my sleep when the alarm rang again, making me jump out of bed. This was my last alarm and I would be damned if I get late to work today. Checking in on Aiden doing okay in the kitchen, I hopped into the shower first, getting ready for the day. According to Monica's message updates, I had a meeting at 9.30 with the design team so we could finalise ideas for a billboard campaign that Jason was working on. Since the idea was his, he couldn't sign off on it and needed my approval. Then I had to have a word with the telecommunications arm, looking to sponsor a major music award show coming up in January. All I knew was that sponsors get straight access to these places, and that was exciting. Until I was reminded that Aiden fucking Steele was in my kitchen, and he probably had to just dial a few numbers to get access in these places without spending a single penny.

I was reading yesterday's updates when I walked out, bumping straight into Aiden, who smiled and kissed my cheek, "Look at my busy little CEO."

I giggled, like a stupid fucking schoolgirl, leaning forward and kissing his jaw, "Good morning."

He stepped back and appraised me for a second, and I secretly patted myself on the back for what I had chosen to wear. I had paired a red sweater with a black wraparound skirt that went a little above my knees, and plain black stockings underneath. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't taken extra care in picking my outfit today. My heels added only an inch to my height, but I was glad for it. I had a day full of meetings, which meant walking and I absolutely hated wearing heels too high. I noticed our breakfast laid out for us, and quickly scarfed it down. The coffee had sugar in it, which made me cringe a little, but I drank it up anyway.

"Should I drive you to work?" Aiden asked just as I was packing my bag for the day.

"Won't be necessary," I pushed in the folders I'd carried home, hoping to find a quick minute in the office before the meeting at 9.30 to go through them. There would be hell to pay if I didn't disseminate information at the right time to the right people, which meant I was going to be calling in a lot of people to my office today. I sent off a voice note to Monica listing all the people she needed to cram in my schedule, and she responded with a thumbs-up sign.

"Are you sure? I can be ready in ten minutes if I just have to drive you there." He said.

"It's fine, Aiden. I've been taking the subway to work every day this week. I've literally been travelling in the subways since I moved to New York."

"You're a millionaire."

"On paper," I reminded him. "The next paycheck hasn't hit yet, so my balance is at $18000 something right now."

Aiden furrowed his brows, "Where are you spending all that money? Didn't you have at least twenty thousand more in your account last week?"

"Sent some home to my dad, put in some for the stupid student loan." I shrugged.

"But you quit..."

"So? That doesn't cancel out my loans. I have accrued way too much interest because I wasn't able to pay for the longest of times, and now the interest is almost as much as the principal amount and it's driving me crazy."

"What was the interest rate?"

"9.45%" I recalled, "But as I said, I hadn't been able to put in a dollar towards it most of the time. My parents pitched in some of their savings but it wasn't going to make any difference, really so I put them to a stop. I'll pay it when I pay it."

"Do you want me to buy back some shares from Karlene?"

I thought about it for a moment. Did I want to give it up? Easily, it would fix most of the problem if I could have only 25% shares and sell the 25% for settling the loan. But I knew the shares were valued at a much higher rate in the market for anyone if we decided to take the company for public offering, and this would simply lower the valuation of the company even on paper. I'd probably be just under a millionaire then. In the long term, this wasn't going to be a good idea.

"No," I explained my rationale to him, "I'll pay it whenever I can. Thank you for offering to help though."

He pursed his lips but nodded anyway, "Of course."

I checked the time on my phone, horrified that I was going to be very late if I didn't leave this exact second from home. "Shit. I've got to go." With my phone securely placed in my bag, I rushed towards the door, grabbing my keys and running out.

Jason and I went back and forth in our first meeting, bouncing ideas and suggestions before settling on a more improved course of action. He praised me after we got out of the meeting, saying, "You've really got a knack for this kind of thing. After your internship ends, I'd like you to consider taking up the digital wing. Paul's needing a helping hand for a while now, and I think you'd fit right in."

I grinned, proud that I had actually managed to make something of myself. While Jason was free in doling out random jokes and compliments, he rarely ever said anyone's work was up to his standards, which made my heart soar.

"Thank you, I'll be considering a few possibilities, but I'll have you know that I like digital a lot more than I like M&A." Jason laughed, parting ways with me at the elevators. He had a few things to do on the same floor and I had to head up so I could finish reading through my notes for the next meeting. I hated negotiating on Aiden's behalf because part of me always knew he could have done better. I wondered just how much money the company was losing because of his absence, but then I shook it off thinking just how much I was saving the company from losing by simply being there.

Monica came in just as I was done rearranging my notes, an unknown woman behind her. "Thea, this is Angelina from Communications." Monica introduced her and we shook hands, me offering her a seat. "I'm sorry but this was urgent." She pressed a manila folder on the table and slid it across to me.

"There has been some speculation after Mr Steele hasn't been coming in to work and you've been taking calls in his office." She encouraged me to open the file, filled with sheets upon sheets of various social media speculations about who 'that mystery woman' was and how I had even been spotted at the family home and funeral. "Now usually we don't respond to these comments and we rarely give anything to these scoundrels but there's a news house that has been looking you up and is giving people the 'scoop' as they call it." She turned the page I had been reading towards the one that was causing her blood pressure to rise, and rightfully so. I read the lines that had been marked with red first, enough to piss me off before reading the words that hadn't been underlined, finding them to be equally offensive.

...has no place being in an office of such prestige and power

...knew her as the woman who always slept through classes

...didn't even graduate...pretty faces get you to places

...Theodora Scott knows exactly how to twist men around her fingers and leave them hanging when they don't serve you a purpose.

"What the fuck."

"We're trying to find who this anonymous source is, but-"

"Oh, it's Alex Mallory. Kellogg, class of 2015." I interrupted, "Sick son of a bitch."

"Is he an ex?" Monica chimed in. I shook my head, disgusted at the mere thought of dating that piece of garbage. "I promised him a date and didn't follow through when he got too creepy for me."

I flipped through the pages finding more and more disgusting words filtering through the comments, like a game of Chinese whispers. None of these people had even met me. How could they make stupid judgements like that? I pushed the sheets away from me, "I don't want to read it anymore."

"How do you propose we respond?" Angelina asked, brushing a curl of hair away from her face.

"Any ideas?" I had no clue what the appropriate response was, and it was practically her job anyway.

"We have a couple of options here. We can choose to remain silent and let it all blow over. Of course, this would only work if this Alex has nothing else to give. Does he?"

"He helped me cheat on an assignment once." I groaned, pressing the shooting pains on the bridge of my nose. Stay in school kids. And study on your own.

"It's not so bad, but that's something we'll still stay wary of." She laid out the next option, "We can pull some strings to twist the narrative against him. You might have to fabricate some things about the nature of your relationship and the extent of his creepy behaviour."

"No," I turned it down immediately, understanding exactly what she wanted me to do. I took harassment seriously, and me using it as a tool for my own benefit would be a disservice to all the victims whose voices were drowned, or never taken seriously.

"Why don't we separate the two things?" I suggested, "you can address why I've been working for Mr Steele as an intern. Throw in something about women empowerment or whatever. People would eat it right up. Send a copy to Aiden first for approval. And whatever Alex says about me has nothing to do with the company, right?"

Angelina nodded. "We can be careful to keep his comments on your personal life out of our statement."

"Great, I'll deal with that little bitch on my own. Monica, can you please find out his employer's contact information?" Monica nodded, and the two women left my office, Monica reminding me that I still had to entertain the negotiating party.

"Send them in whenever they're here." I needed distractions desperately, and I turned to my phone first, finding a slew of unanswered texts from basically everyone I knew. I opened my messages, first checking Aiden's chat window.

Empty.

Kylie had sent me a link to the same article with about a thousand question marks, which I did not know an appropriate response to.

Forget about it. It'll go away soon.

Before I could look further, there was a knock at the door and I had to put my best business face on, "Come in!"

***

"No, mama. It's not like that I can explain-"

I was interrupted by the loud screeching on the other end, demanding an explanation of how I was making money and just exactly how much money I had in the bank. I wasn't sure how much I could detail without breaking my NDA and getting into legal trouble, which is why I had been holding off this conversation with my mom till I came home. I needed to have a look through the contract again and figure things out.

"Let me talk then!" I screamed back, silencing her momentarily.

"Put the camera on and then lie to me." She demanded, making me roll my eyes. Sometimes I wondered why I even tried. This is why talking to dad was always a better idea. But he hadn't responded to the three calls I had already made, and I was worried about him, which made me call her instead. Ever since I quit school, she's been going on and on about me not being good enough and all that jazz, having no clue that my quitting was the only reason she had running water in her house for most days in that year. It didn't help that I had practically sworn dad to secrecy, so Simon, my brother and my mom thought I had quit only because my heart wasn't in it. Simon put the blame on burning out, which meant he wasn't mad at me. Mom put the blame on laziness, which meant I was forever destined to be the black sheep of the family.

I sat down on the floor, resting my phone on the coffee table with the help of the small stack of books on it. "I'm switching to video," I informed her, and in moments her face was visible through heavy pixelation and fluctuating network. Well, as long as she could see my face.

"Now tell me how the hell did you get a million dollars in the bank?"

"I don't have a million dollars in the bank." I clarified, "I own shares worth one million and some, which I'll have to sell to someone if I want that money in the bank."

"How exactly does a floor worker at GAP come across shares worth one fucking million? Have you been doing something for easy money?"

Offended by her suggestion, I quipped, "I told you I got a new job at Steele. And the shares were purchased by my boss, who transferred ownership to me."

"Can you at least make a credible lie? Why the fuck would any man just give away a million dollars?"

"Believe it or not, it's the truth." I shrugged, knowing there's no way I'd be able to convince her when she had clearly made up her mind. Frankly, I didn't want to convince her either. She had very little faith in my abilities anyway, and I wasn't bothered to change it.

"Are you going to use any of your money to go back to school?" She huffed finally.

I shook my head. The dream was to get all the knowledge I could and launch my own business soon. I already had the knowledge armed with me and Aiden would be a constant guide, I didn't see the point in going back to get a piece of paper. "I've got a good thing going, I don't want to break away from it and pursue a fruitless dream."

"How much do you make in a month?"

"Seven grand." I lied smoothly. Making fifty grand would have been even more source of suspicion and I didn't want to bring that up in conversation.

"How are you making rent?"

"I have company provided accommodations." I shrugged, which wasn't technically a lie. She asked some more questions, hoping to catch me in a lie before making a noise of dismissal, "You better keep us informed of this money business on the group chat. God knows you're not good with it."

I rolled my eyes but put the phone down, heading to the kitchen so I could finally eat dinner. Taking out two packs of instant ramen, I snapped a picture of the packet and sent it on the family group.

Dinner. Cost: $1.

Simon was the first to ask what the hell was going on, being active on odd hours basically being a part of his routine.

Ma said I need to inform everyone of my money business. I'm just being a model child.

Dad was the first to send laughing emojis followed by Simon. Mom read the message but said nothing. Good. At least she won't be a bother anymore.

I was only turning the stove on when I remembered in my frazzled state of mind, I had yet to hear from Aiden since this morning. I sent him a text filled with question marks, before getting back to making dinner. While the ramen cooked on a low flame, I stripped out of my stockings and skirt, relief flooding me immediately. I rushed to my room and grabbed a nightdress, running back before the water boiled over. I never had this problem in my old home. I could be having sex and I would still be aware of the food cooking three steps away from me. Big homes came with their own problems.

I didn't know when you came in. Can I come over now?

Sure!

I emptied my ramen into a bowl just as Aiden rang the bell, settling with him on the couch. As soon as I put the bowl down on the coffee table, he pulled me in for a kiss and I melted in his arms. I could imagine coming home to this every day.

I rested my head on his shoulder, eating dinner and generally updating him about all the things that I had been doing at work. I briefly brought up the PR issue, just to mention it in the passing, but Aiden seemed to have thoughts, asking me to halt for a minute. He pressed a call to someone, playing with my hair while the line rang. "Harvey, hi man."

I didn't hear what was happening on the other end, picking up my noodles and taking a bite.

"Yeah, about that news you published today..."

Oh fuck, Aiden was literally talking to the fucking editor of the tabloid?

"No, Harvey. I don't care about business. Tomorrow morning, I will be cancelling all contributions Steele has to your site. Good luck staying afloat." He didn't even wait for a second before disconnecting the call.

"You can't ruin good business relationships for me." I pouted.

"It wasn't doing me much good." He shrugged, pulling me closer to him again.

"I will not be talking about us through the company statement," Aiden said eventually, "We'll be discussing how it was a sensitive time for the business and you and Jason worked tirelessly and all of that but I won't be talking about us yet."

"I don't want you to." I agreed. "Six months after I launch Crew, we'll see where we are."

"You're adamant on Crew?" He picked on the name I had chosen for my business.

"I won't budge."

"What if I pull my investment out?"

"Then you'll write me a glowing letter of recommendation and I will find a job somewhere else that will allow me to save money."

"What if I don't want you to work elsewhere?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I don't think I have the makings of a good trophy wife. I'm not unbelievably younger to you, nor am I decked up in fillers. I also think I will collapse if I go for one SoulCycle class."

Aiden laughed. "You won't quit hustling, will you?"

"Never." I kissed his nose. "We can be a power couple of sorts."

"Power couple?"

I checked it out on my phone to read the definition, "When two powerful individuals — people who care about excelling in their respective careers — join together in a relationship, they manage to empower one another rather than drag each other down. Being a power couple has a lot to do with public image."

"That sounds about perfect." He smiled, and at that moment, I knew I would fight the world, tooth and nail to preserve that smile.

"Hey, Aiden?"

"Hm?"

"How would you feel about letting me send a mail with your signature? I almost want to fight this on my own, but honestly, I'm impatient and I need quick results."

Aiden laughed, resting back on the sofa and pulling me into his chest, "Sure. Take my laptop later and do it."

Alex, you dumb bitch, you're going down.

Alex is in TROUBLEEEEEE!

I'm so sorry, the update got delayed because I was watching a show and the episode ended on a cliffhanger, so naturally, I had to watch the next episode too.