Chapter 36: Chapter 36
The email came in at exactly 11:49 PM.
Celeste had just gotten out of the shower. Her body wrapped in a towel, and her damp curls dripped water onto the floor as she padded over to her phone.
It had been buzzing nonstop in her phone, with notifications piling one over the other like bricks in a collapsing wall.
Her hands trembled slightly when she saw her school email icon glowing red with a new message.
Shebhad thought about this but never expected it.
Subject: Immediate Meeting with Dean of Students - URGENT
From: Office of Student Affairs
To: Celeste Rowan
Date: 11:49 PM
Dear Miss Rowan,
We hope this message finds you well.
Due to recent developments involving viral online content that includes images of you associated with a currently high-profile individual, the university has been made aware of significant attention surrounding your person.
While we understand and respect students’ rights to a personal life, as a representative of our institution and a recipient of both the prestigious Lexington Grant and Internship Program, we are obligated to ensure the school’s image and reputation remain protected.
You are hereby requested to attend an emergency meeting with Dean Calloway at 8:30 AM tomorrow morning. Attendance is mandatory.
Until further notice, we strongly advise you to refrain from any media engagement, public statements, or appearances that may associate your likeness further with ongoing online narratives.
Failure to comply with this directive may put your scholarship and internship placement at risk.
Please confirm receipt of this email immediately.
Sincerely,
Office of Student Affairs Lexington College of Arts and Sciences
Celeste just stood there, numb and frozen.
Her phone buzzed again. Messages came in from group chats. Whispers went around that she was a bad girl.
A few congratulated her, and hyped her up from hitting two Cross men but the hate was so loud that the love meant nothing.
She got more mentions on social media.
Twitter threads.
Somebody had dug up her name.
There were screenshots of her Instagram. Threads saying, "Celeste Rowan... wait, isn’t that the intern at Winston & Black?"
Others asked if she was sleeping her way into luxury. One thread was titled: "From Broke To Billionaire: Who is Celeste and how did she land both Dominic and Landon Cross?"
She dropped her phone like it burned.
"No, no, no, no, no," she whispered, wrapping the towel tighter around herself. Amara left just now to study for her upcoming exams tomorrow. Her best friend had been with her all these while and now she left, things felt more real.
She fell to the floor, sitting with her knees pulled up, and her towel clinging to her damp skin. Her heart pounded so hard that she felt it in her skull.
How did this get so out of control?
She hadn’t even done anything.
That night had been a blur of music, laughter, and yes, a little too much wine. But she hadn’t expected to wake up to this. Pictures of Dominic holding her. Smiling at her like she was all he could see. Carrying her over his shoulder. His face pressed into her neck.
She didn’t even know anyone had been taking photos.
And now? Now the whole world knows her name.
She finally forced herself to move. Her towel was half-unraveled as she stood. She grabbed the phone again, and opened the email.
She hit "Reply" with trembling fingers:
"Received. I will be there. Thank you.
Celeste Rowan"
She didn’t know what else to say.
For the next few hours, she didn’t sleep. She barely moved. She tried to open her laptop, hoping to get ahead on her internship work for the morning, but her inbox was flooded. A dozen unread messages with subject lines like:
"Urgent: Internship Status"
"Meeting Request Regarding Your Role"
"Professional Conduct and Expectations Reminder"
She slammed the laptop shut.
No one had even asked for her side of the story. She wanted to cry. She knew getting entangled with Dominic would destroy her, but she never thought of it this way.
She ended up sitting there, clutching her knees, and silently praying the sun wouldn’t rise.
She couldn’t pretend this was okay when it’s not. It’s death by a thousand cuts right now. She doubted things would ever go back to normal.
.....
Dominic hadn’t slept either.
His legal team had worked all night. Cease and desist letters. DMCA reports. Takedown requests to every platform that would listen.
But it was too late.
The pictures had been reposted thousands of times.
The original uploader had been tracked. He was a club photographer who’d been paid off by a gossip blog.
Dominic had fired off a lawsuit threat that would likely bury the photographer six feet under in legal fees. His lawyers were on it.
Damage control could only do so much.
His assistant had been sent to check in on Celeste. From a distance with no direct contact.
Dominic had made that decision himself.
Not because he didn’t want to talk to her. He could do whatever he wants without any care of the internet. He simply knew he had to be smart for her.
The moment he reached out, it would become a thousand times worse.
If the media caught wind of him "protecting" her, the rumors would turn into fact. If anyone saw them together again, they would never believe this hadn’t been an affair, a scandal, or a planned seduction. She’d be torn apart.
He’d kept the photos. All of them. He’d looked at her face over and over again. She had never looked like that around him before.
He read more pf the comments. He hated himself for all of them.
"Another pretty face looking for a come-up."
"She’s not even that hot. Mid at best."
"Typical. She knew what she was doing the second she put on that dress."
"Isn’t she an intern at Winston & Black? Yikes. Nepotism or just sex appeal?"
"I heard he’s among her cage board. She’s on scholarship. Could Dominic have given her that?"
He closed the browser. Then opened it again. That last comment made his stomach drop. He didn’t want Celeste to catch wind of that.
A thread popped up with the school’s logo.
Someone had leaked the email.
Celeste’s name was being tied to every possible institution that could now suffer for associating with her.
He saw the speculation. She’d be kicked out. Her scholarship was at risk. She was about to be blackballed from the internship scene.
Dominic pushed back from his desk.
He wasn’t even in her world yet, but she was suffering the consequences of his world.