Chapter 37 Off Balance
The rest of the day only got worse.
It started with something small. I had been craving one specific thing all morning, grilled mushrooms, roasted vegetables, and that stupid lemon sauce from the café three blocks away.
By noon I gave in and ordered it, already tasting it in my mind.
Claire, Nora, and Priya joined me in the break room while we waited, chatting easily around me.
When the food finally arrived, I opened the bag and froze.
It wasn’t my order. Chicken with roasted vegetables. No lemon sauce.
I stared at it for a second, like if I looked hard enough it might change.
It didn’t.
Something tight and irrational twisted in my chest. I swallowed, blinking down at the container. It’s just food. It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.
But my eyes burned anyway.
“Oh,” Claire said, noticing. “They got it wrong?”
I nodded quickly, pressing my lips together. “It’s fine. I’ll just eat this.”
The words barely left my mouth before my vision blurred. Tears spilled over.
I sucked in a sharp breath, mortified.
Why am I crying?
I turned my head, wiping at my face before anyone could see too much. “I’m sorry,” I muttered, already standing. “I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I walked quickly to the bathroom, my chest tight, my vision unfocused, emotion rising faster than I could control.
This was ridiculous. It was just food.
Inside the bathroom, I locked myself in a stall and pressed my fingers to my eyes. “Stop,” I whispered.
It didn’t help.
More tears slipped out, and frustration replaced the embarrassment. I leaned my forehead against the cool metal divider, breathing slowly until the wave finally passed.
After a minute, I stepped out to the sink and dabbed carefully under my eyes with damp paper towels, fixing my makeup as best I could. By the time I was done, the redness had faded enough to pass.
When I returned to the break room, all three of them looked up immediately.
Claire frowned. “Ashley… are you okay?”
“It was nothing,” I said, forcing a small smile as I sat down. “My period’s about to start. PMS.”
They all nodded in instant understanding.
“Oh, say no more,” Priya said.
“Been there,” Nora added.
Claire reached into her bag and handed me a chocolate bar without a word, like it was medical protocol.
I let out a quiet laugh, some of the tension easing. “Thank you.”
I unwrapped it, took a bite, and ate the wrong lunch. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it was good enough.
The afternoon dragged on, emails, reports, numbers on a screen that refused to stay sharp no matter how hard I tried to focus. My thoughts kept circling the same question.
Who leaked it?
Apple’s arrest. The mugshot. The café footage.
A buzz cut through it. I glanced down. Another message from Amy.
Someone had leaked another video.
This time it was from the Sinclair Enterprises parking garage.
I opened it. Grainy footage filled the screen, but it was unmistakable. Me, fighting off a masked man, struggling, refusing to be shoved into a car. Even knowing how it ended, my chest tightened as I watched.
Within minutes it went viral. Comments exploded.
“oh my god this is terrifying”
“she fought for her life”
“did you see her hit her face on the car that’s where the bruises came from not a nose job like that gossip channel said”
I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or throw up.
I closed the app, but it didn’t matter. It was already everywhere.
By evening, a full Daily Mail article had gone live.
Family Feud, Kidnapping Attempt, and Pregnancy Bombshell: Inside the Explosive Scandal Surrounding Sinclair Enterprises
They had everything. The mugshot, the affidavit, the café footage, the parking garage video.
There was even a statement from Sinclair Enterprises.
“The safety of our employees is our highest priority. We take this incident extremely seriously. We are reviewing all security protocols and implementing additional protective measures immediately.”
Chicago PD added their own comment, confirming the attack and that the suspect was in custody.
The article included a clip from Apple’s appearance on the Call Me Mommy podcast. She smiled into the camera, talking about being pregnant by a “very powerful businessman,” hinting that I had taken everything from her.
“Sources speculate whether the businessman referenced in the podcast could be Knox Sinclair, CEO of Sinclair Enterprises, where Ashley Richards is currently employed.”
It ended with Marissa.
“The situation becomes even more complicated given the ongoing trial of Marissa Richards, Ashley Richards’ stepmother, who is currently awaiting trial in connection with the death of Ashley’s biological mother, Ines Richards.”
Just like that, I was internet famous again.
Trending.
And not just on gossip channels this time.
Most of the internet was on my side, but a few die-hard Apple fans were still fighting in the comments, rewriting history like their lives depended on it.
I stared at my phone, trying to make sense of it, trying to figure out who was behind all of this.
Then I stood and walked toward Knox’s office.
Linda looked up the moment I approached.
“Is Knox free?” I asked.
Her lips curved into a small, knowing smile. “You can go in. He told me to always let you in.”
Something warm flickered low in my chest.
I pushed the door open.
Knox looked up from his desk the moment I stepped inside. “Ashley.”
Titan lifted his massive head from his bed, alert instantly. His tail thumped once, twice, against the floor before he pushed himself up and padded over, pressing his heavy head into my hand.
“Who’s a good boy?” I murmured, my voice softening without thinking as I scratched behind his ear.
Titan leaned into it shamelessly, tail wagging harder.
“You are,” I murmured. “Yes, you are.”
“You’re turning him into a big baby,” Knox said, a hint of amusement in his tone.
I glanced up. He was leaning back slightly in his chair, studying my face.
“You’ve seen it,” he said after a moment.
It wasn’t a question.
“If you mean the parking garage footage,” I replied, lowering myself into the chair across from him, “then yes.”
Titan followed me, resting his massive head on my lap.
Knox nodded once. “I figured you would. It’s everywhere.”
I hesitated, then asked the question that had been sitting in the back of my mind. “Do you know who leaked the parking garage footage?”
“I looked into it. It was one of the security employees who worked in the camera room.”
I blinked. “Why would he do that?”
“He didn’t like the rumors,” Knox said. “About you getting a nose job. He thought people should see what really happened.”
My fingers stilled in Titan’s fur.
“But he still violated company protocol,” Knox said. “He released internal footage without authorization.”
My stomach tightened. “So he’s fired.”
“He doesn’t work for me anymore,” Knox said calmly. “But he has another job already.”
I looked at him. “You arranged that.”
His expression didn’t change. “He made a mistake. He doesn’t deserve to have his life ruined for it.”
I nodded, but my mind was elsewhere. Because the garage footage was one thing. Sinclair controlled that.
But the rest?
Apple’s mugshot. The affidavit. The café footage.
Who else had it out for Apple that badly?