The next morning, Sarah’s first instinct was to grab her phone and check if the forum post had blown up overnight.
It was gone.
Before she could react, the notorious Mr. Karl from the Upward Group had already issued a response.
He posted photos of himself drinking with friends out of town the night before, making it crystal clear that he was nowhere near City N and couldn’t possibly have been checking into a hotel with any actress.
The ten broken fingers Holden had once given Karl served as a brutal lesson, and Karl still didn’t dare tell anyone about it. He knew that if word got out that he’d pissed Holden off, no one in their circle would associate with him anymore.
Even Karl, as dense as he was, had picked up on Holden’s interest in the newly-famous Sarah.
A scandal with her? Not a chance-Karl would rather go through another hospital stay than risk it.
Just issuing the clarification wasn’t enough. Karl’s lawyers quickly filed a suit against the forum poster who had claimed, “Bet the guy’s some greasy old dude with a bald head and a beer belly-probably Mr. Karl, the CEO of the Upward Group.”
Faced with lawsuits from both Holden and Karl’s legal teams, the original poster panicked and posted an apology. She confessed to being a bitter Sarah anti-fan and admitted that the man she checked in with wasn’t some ugly old executive-it was actually a handsome guy. The poster claimed they were just jealous and made up the whole thing.
But even after that apology, fear of more legal trouble made the poster go back and edit the story.
The final version?
“Actually, Sarah checked in alone last night.”
Sarah curiously held up her phone to show Holden. “Boss, you’re the one who shut down that whole mess, right?”
Holden had just woken up, his narrow eyes still hazy with sleep. “Yeah.”
Sarah had the sudden urge to hug him and kiss him-but then thought better of it. No need to risk a pay cut.
Her eyes sparkled. “Thanks, boss!”
Honestly, ever since she entered the industry, the thing she hated most was when people spread rumors that she was involved with some sleazy creep.
Holden turned over and pinned her under him. “So, planning to offer yourself in gratitude?”
Sarah was once again reminded of just how energetic the member of the big boss could be in the morning.
Yeah… nope. Definitely not something she wanted to get into.
Holden gave a soft chuckle. “What, are you scared you’ll miss out on getting back with Ronald?”
Sarah’s ears turned red.
She’d read about this kind of situation in romance novels but had zero experience in real life. And to be honest, she felt a bit overwhelmed.
Holden didn’t really plan on taking things that far-he had no intention of scaring her. But just seeing her like this sparked something darker in him, a nagging urge to destroy everything.
“Ronald texted you yesterday,” Holden said casually.
Sarah’s curiosity piqued. “What did he say?”
Holden saw the curious gleam in her eyes and smiled coldly. “I deleted it. Thoughtless slip of the thumb. Look, Sarah, I’ve got some important projects going on right now. My reputation can’t take any hits. If you dare run off and cheat on me-”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but he gave her soft cheek a playful squeeze. “I’ll lock you up so you learn your lesson.”
Sarah grabbed Holden’s wrist. “Any other punishment is fine, but please don’t lock me up. You can dock as much of my paycheck as you want-your call.”
Holden pulled his wrist free from her grasp. “You think I care about your paycheck?”
Sarah felt a sharp pang in her chest.
To someone like Holden, money was nothing but a series of ever-growing numbers. At his level, it was endless. The salary he paid her was just a tiny fraction, barely worth mentioning.
“I swear I’d never cheat on you,” Sarah promised, her voice firm. “Not unless our marriage is already over.”
Even if they did get divorced, she wasn’t the type to jump into another relationship right away. With her career on the rise, work was her top priority.
Especially with someone like Ronald-ugh. Even if he did break up with Elisa, Sarah had no interest in him.
In the novel, Ronald and Elisa had broken up and gotten back together so many times that it became a running gag. Every time they split, Ronald found a new fling to entertain himself until he got bored and returned to Elisa.
Their bond seemed written in the stars-impossible to break.
Besides, Sarah had zero feelings for Ronald.
If anything, she might actually prefer someone like Holden. He was gentle, considerate, mature, and composed.
Except for those rare moments when his colder side slipped through, Holden came off as a refined gentleman in her eyes-someone she found increasingly hard to resist.
Holden had the hotel staff bring up a food cart. When Sarah woke up, she was genuinely starving. She rushed to freshen up, change clothes, and grabbed a glass of milk, sipping a few gulps.
After spending so much time shooting out in the middle of nowhere and surviving on bland set meals, everything looked delicious to her now. She slathered half a jar of orange marmalade on her bread, devoured a serving of yogurt with granola, and polished off every last piece of cake.
Holden didn’t have much of an appetite. He drank half a cup of coffee and tried a bite of the smoked salmon in front of him. But watching her dive into all that sugary food made him curious enough to try a bite of the dessert too.
Unfortunately, his taste for sweets had always been mild, so the flavors didn’t particularly impress him.
Sarah noticed and scooped up the rose-raspberry mousse he’d barely touched, finishing it off slowly. Even though she ate a lot, her manners stayed elegant. It had been way too long since she’d tasted such refined pastries, so she savored each bite, her eyes narrowing slightly in contentment.
When she finally finished, Holden unexpectedly reached over and wiped the corner of her mouth.
Curious, Sarah licked his hand. Holden flinched as if he’d been shocked, pulling his hand away quickly.
Sarah followed him as he got up. “Are we heading home now?”
Strictly speaking, Holden’s house didn’t really feel like home to Sarah.
In fact, even Holden himself didn’t think of it as a home-it was just a place to live. But when she called it “home,” for a moment, it almost felt like it really could be. At least when she was there.
Whenever Sarah was around, she’d flop onto random sofas, the housekeeper would bake all kinds of pastries, filling the place with a sweet aroma. The TV was always on, throw pillows would occasionally block the walkway, and large and small delivery boxes were often piled up in the living room.
When she wasn’t there, the house returned to its cold, pristine silence-so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The air felt lifeless and dull.
Having a little beauty like Sarah living in the house… it made things unexpectedly interesting.
Just then, Sarah’s phone buzzed.
It was a message from Crystal.
“Did you leave the hotel yet?”
“If not, be careful. There are paparazzi and fans lurking outside.”
After last night’s drama blew up, the original poster might have deleted the thread and apologized, but by then, plenty of people knew Sarah was staying at this hotel.
Now that she was gaining some fame-and mainly for her looks-there were quite a few people camped out to catch a glimpse of her.
The hotel was located in a tourist area about 100 kilometers from City N, so some folks had traveled specifically to see her.
Sarah held up her phone for Holden to see. “Mr. Holden, are you afraid of paparazzi? If we get caught, everyone’s going to know I’m your wife.”
Sarah wasn’t pursuing an idol career, so being married wasn’t a huge deal to her.
Still, it had its pros and cons.
If word got out about Holden’s marriage-whether real or not-the big shots in the industry would think twice before trying to make moves on Sarah. On the downside, some production crews that had been open to casting her might back out, worried they couldn’t handle someone tied to a big player like Holden.
But the real issue was Holden himself.
Holden had always kept an incredibly low profile. He never sought public attention or cared for fame. Flashy displays meant nothing to him-he had no interest in being the center of anyone’s spotlight.