It began with a whisper.A single tweet.A blurry photo.And a caption that ignited a storm.
"Is Celeste's CEO Liyana Xu climbing the ladder of fame with a superstar on her arm?"#AidenZheng #LiyanaXu #PowerScandal
Liyana sat in her office, fingers dancing across her keyboard, eyes calm but sharp as her screen filled with press release drafts. The campaign's success had gone viral overnight. Comments flooded Celeste's socials, praising the daring concept, the minimalistic opulence, and especially Aiden's magnetic charm.
Until Mira burst through the door.
"Boss—don't check your notifications. Just… look at this."
She shoved her phone forward.
Liyana took it, her eyes scanning the trending post: a photo of her adjusting Aiden's collar during the shoot, mid-laugh, mid-focus, intimate to an untrained eye. The lighting was perfect, and it screamed something more.
Beneath it, tabloids were spinning stories like vultures."Aiden Zheng, the face of Celeste—and maybe more?""Liyana Xu: Corporate queen or calculating seductress?""Love triangle brewing? Sources say Damien Lu isn't happy."
Liyana set the phone down. "Let me guess. Qin Xieren."
Ruoxi entered then, holding a folder of surveillance reports. "Bingo. I cross-referenced the internal logs—Xieren accessed raw files from the campaign shoot through an assistant's login. She had early access to the footage and stills."
Mira scowled. "And she leaked the most suggestive frame. That's not just sabotage—that's slander."
"She's trying to paint me as someone who's leveraging Aiden for PR," Liyana said, voice cold now. "To make it look like I'm using men to climb."
"She's jealous," Ruoxi muttered. "You, Aiden, and Damien stole the show. She couldn't bear it."
Mira clenched her jaw. "Do we fight fire with fire?"
"No," Liyana said. "We fight with precision."
Meanwhile, in his penthouse, Damien Lu stood in front of a massive window, glass of scotch untouched in his hand.
He'd seen the photo.
And while his logical mind told him it was a manipulation—crafted by someone who'd been desperate to be relevant—the image still made his chest burn.
The way Liyana had smiled.The softness in her eyes.The proximity.
He took a long breath, forcing the emotion down. He knew Liyana. He knew her professionalism. He knew she was capable of affection without vulnerability—especially in front of the camera.
But what if—just what if—Aiden was beginning to reach her in ways he never could?
His phone buzzed.
[Aiden Zheng]:"Saw the headlines. You good, man?"
Damien narrowed his eyes, then typed back.
[Damien Lu]:"Stay out of this."
He tossed the phone onto the couch.
Back at Celeste HQ, Liyana wasn't sulking.She was planning.
In a private boardroom, she met with Mira, Ruoxi, and Celeste's legal team.
"Press release goes out in two hours," she said. "No denial. No pleading. We own the narrative. This is a professional campaign—not a romance novel."
Ruoxi smirked. "Want me to slip in a line about people being threatened by a woman with power and charm?"
"Add it," Liyana said. "Subtle, but lethal."
They worked quickly, dismantling the tabloid's spin by releasing behind-the-scenes footage showing the real context—how the shot was directed, how Liyana was adjusting lighting and collars on multiple models, not just Aiden.
Then came the masterstroke.
Aiden himself posted.
"When you work with brilliance, sparks happen—but in this case, it's all fashion, no flirting. Proud to be part of Celeste's legendary campaign. Let's not reduce creative chemistry to gossip. #PowerAndStyle #Celeste2025"
The post exploded. Fans rallied around the professionalism. Influencers and stylists reposted it, praising how the team handled the controversy with grace and control.
But just as things started to calm… Damien appeared.
That evening, Liyana was leaving Celeste HQ, stepping into the black sedan when the back door opened.
"Damien?"
He slid in beside her, uninvited but magnetic.
She raised a brow. "You could've texted."
He didn't look at her. "I saw the photo."
"I assumed you did."
"You handled it well."
She tilted her head, amused. "That almost sounded like a compliment."
Damien turned to her then, eyes dark and unreadable. "But you didn't answer one thing."
"What's that?"
He leaned closer. "Do you enjoy his attention?"
Liyana's breath caught. Not because of the question, but because of the rawness in his tone.
"You're jealous."
"I'm territorial," he said without blinking. "There's a difference."
She smiled slowly, her voice a whisper. "You want me, Damien Lu?"
"I don't want to want you," he said. "But I do. Every second."
The tension between them crackled like lightning in the silence.
And outside the car, the city kept moving—unaware that within this luxury sedan, the real scandal wasn't what the world thought.
It was what neither of them dared to admit aloud.