Chapter 7 Rumors and Rivalries

By Monday morning, the entire marketing floor was buzzing-and not because of work.

Julia could feel it the second she stepped off the elevator. The stares. The smirks. The half-whispered gossip that stopped whenever she passed. Her skin prickled with heat before she even reached her desk.

"Did you hear?"

"They live in the same building."

"Same floor, actually. Maybe she's his... you know."

"No wonder he's still employed."

Julia slammed her files onto her desk harder than necessary. "Morning," she muttered.

"Morning," said Brandon cheerfully from the seat next to hers. He looked infuriatingly relaxed, sleeves rolled up, tapping his pen as if the whole world didn't have its tongue wagging about them.

Julia hissed under her breath, "Do you have any idea what people are saying?"

He blinked innocently. "That I'm finally getting along with someone?"

"They think we're dating!" she snapped. "Because we come in at the same time!"

He tilted his head. "Well... we do leave together too."

Julia's mouth fell open. "Brandon!"

"What?" His grin was shameless. "Better me than some random creep, right?"

Her voice rose an octave. "Don't you dare use my name to protect your ego!"

Half the office went quiet. Julia forced herself to take a breath, face flaming, and dropped into her chair. The last thing she needed was Ms. Sanders noticing.

Brandon, completely unbothered, leaned closer and whispered, "Relax. Rumors die fast."

She shot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. "Not when you keep feeding them."

===

But rumors, once born, had a life of their own.

By lunch, they'd grown legs and wings.

Someone posted on the company chat: 'Temp girl caught having lunch with Hughes heir-promotion soon?'

Julia wanted to crawl under a desk and disappear.

Brandon, of course, laughed. "I should start charging rent for all the space I take up in their heads."

Julia stabbed her rice with a fork. "This isn't funny! My contract is temporary. One complaint, and I'm gone."

He studied her for a moment, expression softening. "You really care what they think?"

"I care about surviving."

That shut him up-at least until the afternoon.

===

"Julia Bailey?"

James Whitmore's voice sliced through the air like a cold draft.

Julia froze. He stood near the glass corridor, suit immaculate, phone in hand. Even the executives passing by nodded respectfully to him.

She felt small instantly.

"Mr. Whitmore," she greeted carefully.

"Walk with me," he said curtly.

They stepped into a quieter hallway, the kind lined with framed awards and silent tension.

James didn't waste time. "I heard the rumors."

Her stomach sank. "They're not true-"

"I know that." His eyes were ice-blue, assessing. "But perception matters more than truth here."

Julia folded her arms. "Then maybe you should tell that to your colleagues instead of me."

His gaze hardened. "You think this company runs on fairness? You're a temporary employee surrounded by sharks. They'll devour you the moment you slip."

She bit back a retort. "I'm just doing my job."

"You're getting too close to Brandon."

That made her flinch. "Close? He's a coworker-"

"He's a Hughes," James interrupted sharply. "And you-let's be honest-aren't." His voice softened only slightly. "I'm warning you because I know how this ends. People like you don't survive scandals like this."

Julia's hands curled into fists. "People like me?"

"You know what I mean."

"No," she said quietly, anger simmering beneath her words. "You mean people who weren't born with power."

"Julia-"

"Unlike you," she cut in, trembling but unyielding, "I don't bow to power. I work for survival."

For a second, silence. Then James sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

She turned to leave. "Better stubborn than spineless."

===

Her heart wouldn't stop pounding.

By the time she reached the break room, she could barely breathe. The hum of vending machines faded into the sound of her pulse.

Why does it always come down to this? Power. Money. Control.

Her reflection in the glass door looked like someone else-someone tired, worn, fighting a war she didn't sign up for.

She closed her eyes, and the memory came unbidden.

===

Flashback.

A younger Julia sitting at a kitchen table, her father hunched over a stack of papers. The Hughes logo stamped on every page.

"Dad?" she'd asked. "Why are you crying?"

He'd smiled, weakly. "Just tired, sweetheart. Business isn't going well."

But a week later, their shop was gone-crushed by debt, by corporate competition, by Hughes Corporation's expansion plan that swallowed small vendors whole.

Her mother's tears.

Her father's silence.

And the logo burned into Julia's memory.

===

Back in the present, Julia gripped the counter until her knuckles whitened. "I'll never let them win again," she whispered.

"Talking to yourself now?"

Brandon's voice broke through, gentle but teasing.

She spun around. "You-! Don't sneak up like that."

He held up his hands. "Sorry. You okay?"

Julia bit her tongue. He looked genuinely concerned, not his usual smug self. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"You work too hard," he said, leaning on the counter beside her. "Maybe if you smiled more-"

"Say that again," she warned, eyes narrowing.

He chuckled, low and warm. "Kidding. Mostly."

She hated that he could make her heart trip between irritation and something dangerously close to fondness.

===

By evening, the office had emptied out, but the tension hadn't.

Julia gathered her things, determined to avoid further embarrassment. As she crossed the lobby, voices echoed from the far corner.

She froze when she recognized them.

"...You shouldn't be here," James's voice hissed.

"I'm not going back," Brandon's low reply shot back, tight with anger. "You think I care what he says?"

"This isn't about what you care about," James retorted. "It's about survival. If your father finds out you're here, it'll destroy you both."

Julia's breath caught.

Destroy you both?

Was James warning him-or threatening him?

She leaned closer, heart pounding, trying to catch more-but James noticed her first. His gaze flicked up sharply.

"Julia," he said coldly. "Eavesdropping is beneath you."

She straightened, face burning. "I-wasn't-"

Brandon stepped between them, voice protective. "Don't talk to her like that."

James's expression didn't waver. "Then keep her out of things she doesn't understand."

He brushed past them both and disappeared into the elevator.

Julia's pulse hammered. She turned to Brandon. "What was that about?"

He met her gaze, expression unreadable. "Nothing you need to worry about."

"Don't do that," she said softly. "Don't shut me out."

His jaw clenched. "Trust me, Julia. Some things are better left buried."

She wanted to push, to demand answers-but the weight of his voice stopped her.

Outside the glass lobby, rain began to fall, blurring the city lights into streaks of silver. Somewhere in that reflection, Julia saw her own doubt-growing, relentless.