I dragged myself back to my chair and dialed up my go-to investigator, Sean Brians.

"Hey, Sean. How’s it going?"

"Not much. Who’s the new target now?" he asked.

"You saw that viral clip from the Stellar Sound Awards last night?"

"Yeah, the new couple, right?"

"Yep, that’s them. I’ll send over their details. Just keep me posted like usual," I said.

He chuckled. "Didn’t think I’d see the day you’d cover celeb scandals, Em."

I hung up, not really in the mood for jokes and sent him the addresses for Niall and Pamella.

Then, I started browsing everything I could find about Pamella online. There wasn’t much on Niall besides some articles about his start-up, but Pamella? There were tons of stories, mostly about her chaotic love life. She had dated some big names and one guy even claimed she used him before they had a very public fallout.

I scrolled through the mess, frowning, when my phone rang—it was Niall. I hesitated but picked up.

"Emilie, are you free tonight? Let’s have dinner and make up for missing our anniversary," he said.

Still angry, I wanted to turn him down, but curiosity got the better of me. I needed to hear his side of things and, more importantly, I wanted to know what was really going on between him and Pamella.

So, after work, I drove to the restaurant where Niall was already waiting, holding a bouquet and giving me that warm smile.

"Hey, beautiful."

Normally, that might’ve melted my heart, but not this time. I accepted the flowers in silence.

As we sat down and waited for our food, Niall started, "I’m really sorry I missed our anniversary dinner. I went to the awards show because my start-up supported it and I got a free pass. I only planned to stay for an hour, but then I ran into an old friend—Pamella. She’s a singer now."

He paused, probably waiting for my reaction, but I just listened, stone-faced.

"We caught up and then Pamella had a panic attack. She asked me to stay with her until the event was over. I muted my phone, so I didn’t realize you were trying to reach me. By the time I remembered, it was already 9 PM. I rushed to the restaurant, but you were gone."

I rolled my eyes, not buying it entirely. "So, what’s your relationship with Pamella?"

He shifted nervously, avoiding my gaze. "We were friends in college and we haven’t seen each other since graduation."

I pulled out my phone and showed him the viral video. "Your kissing video is everywhere. People are making a big deal about it."

Niall shook his head and replied, "Don’t listen to the internet. There’s nothing going on between us, it’s just for the show."

I wanted to believe him and for a moment, I did.

But when I got home, I started second-guessing. I called Sean, debating whether to cancel the whole thing and tell Margareta that there was nothing between Niall and Pamella. My gut was telling me to protect my relationship, but my head was still spinning.

When Sean answered, something in his tone made me doubt everything all over again.

"Emilie, I've got some bad news," Sean said over the phone. "I know he's your boyfriend because I just saw you two having dinner together."

I tensed up. Sean went on to explain that he and his team had followed Niall and Pamella that day. They had met up at a private country club, arriving in separate cars.

I gulped. "So, you know about my relationship now. Keep that under wraps, okay?"

Sean hesitated before asking, "Are you sure you want to go through with this investigation? You okay?"

I gritted my teeth and forced a calm tone. "Yeah, just keep digging. I can handle it."

My doubts about Niall's story were growing. I could not shake the feeling that there might be something more going on. Then I remembered Isaac, an old friend of Niall’s who I’d bumped into at the restaurant. I shot him a text, [Hi, Isaac. Sorry for the late message, but can we meet up tomorrow? I need to ask you something.]

He replied quickly, [Sure, let’s meet up.]

The next day at the office, I reached out to some of my media contacts, including a few who had been involved with the award show. I asked them what they knew about Pamella and Niall, their interactions, anything at all. Most of them admitted they hadn’t really paid attention until the big screen showed Pamella and that guy kissing. But one person mentioned that the two left together in the same car.

My stomach dropped I didn’t want to dig deeper, but I forced myself to stay calm. Then, Margareta called me into her office. I figured she wanted an update.

Sure enough, I was right. I hesitated before mentioning that I had found out they met at a country club.

Margareta looked at me, sensing something was off. “You’re not usually this hesitant, Emilie. You usually go all in on stories, but this one feels different. You’re holding back.”

I tried to brush it off. “I feel like an annoying paparazzi chasing after a celebrity’s love life.”

“It’s no different from other stories and this one’s going to get a lot of attention. By the way, an insider told me Pamella was at the after-party with some guy at a club. Find out if it was the same man.”

I sighed. “Alright, I’ll check it out. Send me the club details.”

“That's more like it,” she said with a smile.

My plan was to meet Isaac first, then head to the club. After work, I met up with Isaac. He got straight to the point and asked, "So, what do you want to talk about? Is this about Niall?"

I was caught off guard by how quickly he guessed. “Let’s grab a drink first,” I suggested, trying to ease into the conversation.

Once we had our drinks, I finally asked, “I was wondering if you knew anything about Pamella and Niall. You were their friend, right?”

Isaac nodded slowly. “I didn’t know Pamella that well, but Niall and Pamella dated during the first semester of college, for about a year, before she left to pursue her singing career. She was his first girlfriend.”

I was shocked. I thought they were just old friends. “Did they stay in touch after breaking up?”

“Not that I know of. Pamella was busy with her new celebrity life and boyfriends.”

I sighed. So, they did have a history and Niall conveniently left that part out. Isaac noticed my troubled expression and asked, “Did you two argue because of that video?”

“Yeah, something like that,” I admitted.

“I don’t know much about the situation, but I hope you guys can work it out. You’re good for him, unlike some women who are just after his money now that DirectDeal is a success,” he said earnestly.

I forced a smile. DirectDeal was Niall’s startup, an e-commerce platform connecting suppliers directly to buyers. It was still in its early stages when we started dating and he faced a lot of setbacks, especially from distributors.

I helped him out by writing some positive articles and using my media connections to get his brand noticed. Now, after five years, it had taken off and even secured big investments this year. The future looked bright.

After some small talk about Isaac’s family and our work, we said goodbye and I headed to the club Margareta mentioned, The Nocturne.

Once there, I asked a waitress about the award after-party. She said she wasn’t on duty that night but suggested I talk to Mary, another waitress who was there. “She’s got red hair and freckles, easy to spot,” the waitress said.

I looked around and saw a red-haired girl in an apron dragging a large trash bag toward the side door.

“Mary?” I called out, startling her.

“Who are you? If you’re here about my brother’s debt, I’ve cut ties with him years ago!” She quickly tried to walk away, still dragging the bag.

“No, no, it’s not that,” I assured her.

“So, what do you want?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m a journalist, Emilie Stohr.”

“A journalist? Oh, God, did he attack someone again? Look, I really can’t talk right now,” she said, trying to hurry off.

“No, it’s not about your brother. I just wanted to ask about a party here a few days ago.”

“A party? There are always parties here.”

“The Stellar Sound Award after-party. You know, the one Pamella Blackwell attended?”

“Oh, that one. Are you a paparazzi?”

“Well, sort of. But did you see her there?”

“Yeah, but I can’t talk about customers. Sorry, no can do,” Mary replied, trying to brush me off.

“One hundred dollars. I’ll pay you for any information.”

She hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice. “We can’t talk here. Let’s meet somewhere else.”

We exchanged numbers and planned to meet the next day.

As planned, I met Mary at a diner the next morning and she told me Pamella was completely wasted that night. She was getting pretty handsy and all over some good-looking guy Mary didn’t recognize.

I pulled up the viral video of Niall and Pamella at the award show and asked, “Does this guy look familiar?”

Mary squinted at the screen, her brows furrowing in concentration. “Yeah, that could be him. Same build, same clothes.”

“Mary, if you can get me the CCTV footage, I’ll give you more money,” I offered.

She hesitated, then nodded slowly. “I’ll need double for this one. I’ve gotta sweet-talk the security guy, but I’ll get you the footage of Pamella and that man.”

We agreed and Mary left. I sat there, unsure of my next move. Part of me wanted to confront Niall, but another part wasn’t sure if I should even continue digging into this mess.

When I got back to the office, I found Margareta still in a meeting with the new CEO. The guy was young and hardly ever in the city, always jetting off for business deals.

I busied myself with research for about an hour until Margareta finally came down. “Em, Mr. Cardinale wants to see you.”

My stomach did a little flip as I headed to the CEO’s office. I knocked and stepped in and we talked about the site’s progress.

“Congrats, Emilie,” he said, smiling. “I’ve heard great things about your work. Keep this up and there could be a promotion to one of our international offices in your future.”

“Thank you, sir. It’s a pleasure working here.”

We exchanged polite smiles before I excused myself. I was relieved when the meeting was over—he wasn’t someone we saw around the office much and talking to him made me nervous.

Back at my desk, I worked until lunchtime. Just as I was about to take a break, Margareta popped up behind me. “Let’s grab lunch,” she suggested.

I agreed and we headed to a small hot dog stall nearby. As we ate, she asked, “How’s the story coming along?”

I forced a smile and filled her in on what I had found so far. She reminded me that I only had a few days to wrap it up.

“Do you have anything solid on the guy yet?” she asked.

I hesitated. I knew a lot about the guy—he was my boyfriend, after all—but I wasn’t sure how much I should reveal. “I’m still gathering info. So far, I’ve just got the basics—name, job, that sort of thing.”

Just then, a text buzzed on my phone. It was from Mary, which read, [Emilie, my friend told me Pamella will be staying at the hotel where she works tonight. You might want to check it out.]

I thanked Mary and then called Sean to update him on the info I got. "So, anything new on your end?" I asked.

"Niall’s been sticking to his usual routine and Pamella left town for a bit. Nothing out of the ordinary," Sean replied.

After that, I decided to call Niall to make sure. "Hey, can we meet tonight?" I asked.

“I’d love to, but I’m stuck at work late tonight,” he said.

A sense of unease settled in, but I forced myself to say, “Alright, no problem.”

I filled Margareta in on the situation before heading straight to the hotel Mary had mentioned. I found a seat in the lobby, pretending to be just another guest as I waited. Across the street, Isaac was sitting at a café, playing his part as a casual passerby.

I opened my laptop, trying to focus on writing up the story based on what I had uncovered so far. The idea of exposing Niall still gnawed at me—he was such a private person.

I tried calling him again, but it went straight to voicemail. A few minutes later, I got a text from him, which read, [Sorry, in a meeting. Can’t talk right now.]

Before I could reply, a sudden commotion erupted near the entrance. There was cheering, the flash of cameras and a flurry of footsteps. I knew instantly that Pamella had arrived. Sure enough, she stepped out of a sleek car, taking a few moments to pose for photos and sign autographs before making her way inside with her bodyguards.