The Man Who Chose My Side

"Look she's here. Damn she didn't even take a break, looks like she wanted it over by herself."

Cora heard the whisper the moment she stepped into the lobby of Brooks & Calloway Group. She had arrived an hour early to avoid it, but the lobby was already half full.

"Good morning," she murmured to two associates from finance.

They glanced at her and quickly looked away. Cora kept walking toward the executive wing, where her desk sat right outside the CEO's office because she was Sebastian's executive secretary.

Vanessa was already in the pantry near her desk, stirring her coffee.

"Are you okay?" she asked lightly, and her emerald eyes softened with concern. "These people have been talking since morning. They are judging you for being with Sebastian. I told them heartbreak makes everyone act differently. Some of us just need another shoulder to lean on, right?"

"I am fine, thank you," Cora replied, and she tried to keep her voice even.

"I defended you, you know," Vanessa added sweetly. "People can be so judgmental after a breakup, and I told them to give you space."

"I did not know I needed defending," Cora whispered, and her fingers tightened around her laptop.

"Of course you do," Vanessa insisted, and she smiled as she brushed past Cora's desk. "We all do sometimes."

Cora sat down and opened Sebastian's calendar, but the weight of every glance on the executive floor made it impossible to focus.

In the department meeting, Eyan's chair was empty as CFO and the team started without him. Vanessa waited until Sebastian's name appeared on the quarterly deck.

"Mr. Brooks has handled all this press so gracefully," she remarked. "Though the media was also right, some women recover remarkably fast when another wealthy man is waiting to catch them at work."

The table went silent.

"Are you talking about me, Vanessa?" Cora questioned, and her voice trembled slightly despite her effort to stay calm.

"Why would you think it was about you? I was just saying what the media is talking about," Vanessa countered, and her smile stayed perfectly pleasant. "I was just making conversation."

The conference room door opened right then and Sebastian walked in. He rarely attended the marketing sync as CEO.

"I heard there was gossip about conduct on my upper floor," he stated calmly, and his gray eyes swept the table. "Let me clear it up."

His gaze lingered on Cora for a second before hardening again.

"Personal attacks have no place in my company," he warned. "Anyone targeting my secretary will answer directly to me, regardless of their position. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Brooks," the team murmured in unison.

Eyan pushed open the door to Sebastian's office right after the meeting without knocking. His office was directly across the hall and he had arrived after the meeting. He had just heard the whole day from Vanessa.

"What was that?" he demanded. "Why are you being so protective of Cora in the media and inside the company? You are making me look like the villain in front of the whole company."

"You did that yourself on Christmas, it's not that I lied about anything," Sebastian retorted.

"I am your best friend," Eyan snapped, and his brown eyes flashed with fury. "She reports to you. You are taking advantage of her while she is vulnerable and confused."

"And who made her vulnerable?” Sebastian clapped back. “You humiliated her in front of both our families," Sebastian argued, and his voice dropped with disappointment. "You lost the right to decide who gets to stand by her. Now stop complaining!"

Eyan stared at him in disbelief, "You have never spoken to me like this in twenty years," Eyan uttered.

"And you have never given me a reason to," Sebastian answered.

Neither apologized, and the silence between them was heavier than any argument they had ever had.

Cora packed her bag and headed toward the side entrance because reporters were still camped at the main doors. Sebastian was already waiting there with his car idling behind him.

"You will not get past them alone," he offered quietly. "Come on."

"I do not want to cause more trouble for you," Cora confessed, and her hazel eyes filled with hesitation. "You have already done too much, and everyone is already talking."

"You are not trouble," he assured her, and he held the door open. "Do not ever think that."

They stepped out together and the reporters rushed forward instantly.

"Mr. Brooks, are the rumors true?" a reporter shouted. "Cora, did you cheat on Eyan with his best friend?"

Cora tensed, expecting him to step back and deny everything.

Sebastian opened the passenger door for her and waited until she was inside. Then he turned toward the cameras.

"Nobody has cheated, some things are just not meant to be. Miss Vieamore is under my protection," he declared. "That is all you need to know."

Inside the car, city lights blurred past as silence stretched between them.

"Why are you doing all of this for me?" Cora whispered, and her voice broke. "You do not have to risk your reputation. I am not worth all this mess."

"Do not say that," Sebastian murmured, and his hands tightened around the wheel. "Someone should have stood by you a long time ago."

"Thank you," she breathed, and tears gathered in her eyes despite her efforts. "For today. For not letting me face them alone."

"You do not need to thank me," he responded, and his gray eyes softened as he glanced at her.

As he pulled up outside her apartment, neither of them noticed the black luxury sedan parked across the street with its lights off.

Inside it, Eyan sat in the driver's seat, watching them.

"So this is how it is now?" he muttered to himself, and his brown eyes stayed fixed on the way Cora looked at Sebastian. He was not sure why he was feeling it, but one thing was sure…..he did not like Sebastian around Cora….at all!