Zoey POV

"Why didn't you tell me?"

I held the phone away from my ear as Bri yelled into it. The very next morning when I woke up and looked at my phone, I had about thirty missed calls and a hundred messages from my best friend. She had seen the article from the charity event and immediately called me.

Having fallen asleep, I hadn't the opportunity to see the notifications until the next day.

"It just happened, Bri. It's not like I had time to call you up and tell right after." I groaned. Brinene Vanderbill always had a way of making me feel guilty for not telling her something right away that was this big.

"Okay, I understand it just happened, but you could have told me after what happened last night. Dang! I hate being left in the dark."

I sighed, taking a deep breath.

"I'm not having this argument with you, Bri. Okay? I have enough stress on my plate right now with Vidia and Dan."

"What those vile cockroaches say this time?"

I resisted the urge to giggle at her harsh comment. Ever since Vidia showed her true colors and I'd broken my engagement off with Dan, Bri had a bitter taste about the two and had nothing but bad things to say about them.

After I was able to stop my giggling, I explained what happened.

"That bitch is lucky I wasn't there to bust her in that big ass mouth of her's."

"I don't understand why she has such a problem with me. I've never done anything to her." I sighed, plopping down on my bed and wishing Ian was still in my room.

When I woke up, he had already left, leaving me a note saying his dad and mine wanted to talk to him at the office downtown.

"She's just jealous you're hotter than her probably."

I smiled. Bri was trying to cheer me up and it almost worked when my mother came into my room.

"Honey, we gotta do something about this article." She said in a sweet tone, but her face held a disappointed expression.

"I'll call you back later, Bri. My mom wants to talk." I told her, ignoring the glare my mother gave me for not listening to what she was telling me at the moment.

"You better."

"Bye, Bri." I hung the phone up and turned to an irritated looking mother.

"I told you to behave last night." She narrowed her eyes, sitting down next to me.

"I did behave. I didn't take my clothes off or get wildly drunk. I even minded my own business." I frowned as she looked at me sadly.

"Why did the paparazzi print that you and Dan got into it?" She questioned, holding up her phone and showing me the article I had already read a dozen times.

"Because we did get into it, but not like they said." I ran my fingers through my hair and then proceeded to tell her exactly what happened.

"Ah, so that's what happened. You know, I really don't like that guy now. He used to always seem so nice and sweet, but he sure showed his true colors to you last night." My mother folded her hands onto her lap, seeming to be thinking of something.

"Yeah. And now everyone probably thinks I'm such a bad person and that I'm pregnant!" I groaned, remembering that little tidbit.

"You aren't, are you?" My mother raised an eyebrow at me.

"No, mom. I'm not. I'm on the pill and I use protection." I replied, rolling my eyes. Why did everyone seem to forget this?

"Well, you used to drink a lot which could have reversed the effects of the pill and-"

"Mom! I'm not pregnant." I declared, jumping up and walking over to my vanity.

Before anything else was said, my phone starting ringing.

"It's Dad." I stated, answering it.

"Hey, honey. Could you come down to the office? There's a bunch of reporters here asking for you. I think it's about the article and I figured you'd want to be here to clear things up." Several voices could be heard in the background, shouting questions out and demanding my whereabouts. "Plus, Ian could use your support down here. Greg and I sent him to get coffee and when he came back they bombarded him."

I groaned, nearly throwing my phone against the wall, but resisted.

"Okay. I'll be there in twenty minutes." I sighed and ended the call before my dad could tell me anything else. "I gotta go to the office, mom. There apparently are reporters demanding an interview from me and bombarding Ian."

She jumped up, a determined look on her face as she walked over to me.

"I'm going too. There's no way I'm going to let my daughter face those reporters without me."

I knew there was no convincing her otherwise, so I just got up and then quickly got dressed.

* * *

I parked my car in front of the tall building that read "Prescott and Carmichael Architecture Industries" in large lettering on the side of the building and my eyes widened.

Surrounding the entrance were many reporters with large cameras, audio recorders, and notebooks in their hands. As soon as they noticed my mother and I in the car, they started rushing over and shouting outside the vehicle.

"Zoey, do you have any comment on what transpired last night?"
"Can you give us more details on your pregnancy?"
"Are things hostile between Mr. Franklyn and you now?"
"How long have you been seeing Mr. Carmichael?"

All these questioned were asked as mom and I exited the car and pushed our way through the reporters and the front door.

We remained silent the whole way, entering the building and entering the elevator that would lead us up to the executive offices.

I let out a sigh of relief, when by luck, no reporters found their way onto the elevator with us.

"So, what are you going to do about the reporters?" Mom asked, breaking the silence we had as we rode rose to the top floor.

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe let them interview me and clear things up. I'd like to talk to Ian about it first since he's involved too." I replied, fighting back my frustrated tears.

Mom suddenly pulled me into a hug as we stepped out of the elevator on the top floor.

"I'm sorry for scolding you, honey." She told me in a saddened voice, bewildering me at her sudden mood change. "I just get so wound up when I see the paparazzi printing stuff about you. Especially when it's lies."

"It's unfair." I mutter, gently pulling away from her, making my way towards my dad's office.

As we grew closer to it, the sound of more reporters filled my ears.

Pushing open the door to the large office, I saw why.

My dad, Ian, and Mr. Carmichael, all stood behind my dad's desk, reporters surrounding the sides and front of it, shouting out similar questions to the reporters at the front entrance.

Looking towards the door, Ian's blue green eyes met mine and an expression of relief filled his face.

"You can all leave the boys alone now. I'm here and ready to talk." I cleared my throat and spoke loudly.

Immediately, the reporters started surrounding me and demanding answers to this questions.

"Is it true you're pregnant, Zoey?"
"Have you and Mr. Carmichael been a couple all along?"
"What of Mr. Franklyn? Why did you call off your engagement?"
"Why did you stop your drinking and partying?"
"Are you still working with your father and Greg Carmichael?"

I let out a very audible sigh before walking over to the small couch in the office and plopping down.

"Okay. To begin, no I am not pregnant. I don't know where the idea came from, but it's entirely untrue. . . And Ian and I only just recently pursued a relationship."

"Really? Then explain this video?" Her familiar voice had me reeling in anger before I even spotted the red head.

Vidia Gomez smirked, holding out her phone that was playing a video. It was of the night Ian and I went the club and almost slept together. We were leaving the club and heading out to Ian's car, exchanging kisses here and there.

"If you look closely at the date it was taken you'll see it was during the time Zoey was engaged to Dan." Vidia spoke with that wicked tone of her's, the reporters eating it up.

I frowned, realizing I had no way of getting of the situation. Then, remembering I was going up against Vidia, I sucked up any shame I felt and stood, walking over to her.

"Yes I was engaged to Dan during that time. And yes, I knew it was wrong. But I told Dan about it and cleared the air." I clenched my fists, trying really hard to hold back my temper.

"Really? According to Dan, you didnt tell him until very recently. Now, why would you keep something like that from your fianceé?" Her green eyes narrowed, her smirk growing even wider. "Unless you'd been doing it behind his back for awhile?"

I gritted my teeth, choosing my next words carefully as the reporters were listening intently to everything being said.

"I've said it already, but I'll say it again since you're too dumb to comprehend it the first time. Ian and I just got together. We never had a thing before now. That night at the club was a drunken mishap." I clarified, grinning when I saw Vidia's shocked expression at me calling her dumb. "Now, are you done trying to make things seem worst than they are or do I need to remind you again that Ian and I just became a thing?"

Vidia's green eyes flashed angrily and her nostrils flared before storming out of the room, some of the reporters following her.

The remaining reporters bombarded me with questions I didn't want to answer, but I knew I had to or they'd print some made up bogus story about what just happened.

Vidia POV

Ugh! That girl makes my skin crawl.

I slammed my car door shut and stormed up to the entrance of my family mansion, rage boiling inside me.

Ever since I could remember, Zoey Prescott had been a thorn in my side. Constantly stealing the spotlight from me with her wildness and drunk shenanigans.

It never mattered I had just made the cover of a new magazine for my modeling or donating to a children's orphanage. Or even that I volunteered many hours of my time to a soup kitchen for the homeless. Zoey Prescott always made top news for either being topless or in a drunken state.

It really was aggravating and sad if you thought about it. But that shows how the media cares for drama. And Zoey was full of it.

"Good evening, Miss. Gomez, the usual?" Our buttler, Frederick Darwin, asked, standing behind the bar in our living room when I entered.

"Yes, Darwin. And use the heavy stuff." I replied, plopping down onto the couch and flipping the large, flat screen tv on.

Immediately, clips of mine and Zoey's little exchange showed on the tv, along with Zoey's "interview" with the reporters, clearing everything up.

I rolled my eyes, when once again she assured everyone that Ian and her just recently got together and although she was unfaithful to Dan, it wasn't with Ian.

I groaned, clenching my fists and teeth. This girl angered me to my core with her crap.

"Ugh!" I jumped up angrily, tossing a pillow towards the wall next to the tv.

"Here you go, Miss." Darwin walked cautiously over to me, handing me a tequila sunrise, full to the brim.

I snatched it from him and downed it in two long gulps, enjoying the burn as it went down my throat.

"Another please, Darwin."

The white haired buttler nodded, hurrying over to the bar.

I turned back to the tv, glaring at the picture of Zoey that the station had frozen on.

One way or another, I would take the bitch down. Even if it meant getting down and dirty.