Chapter 116

When Sharlene saw the news, she immediately ran to tell Anastasia. She was honestly dying to know why Rhodes Global had suddenly jumped into this mess. What was Anastasia’s deal with Rhodes Global, anyway?

When Anastasia found out, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, warmth flooding her chest. He knew. He actually knew what was happening.

Truth was, Anastasia had been internally spiraling about how to explain this to Cassian. She was married now; she had to think about how this would affect her husband. When she’d first seen those posts go viral, her heart had been pounding with pure panic. She’d been racking her brain trying to figure out damage control, but Cassian had just steamrolled in and fixed everything in like ten minutes.

Did this mean he actually trusted her?

Just as Anastasia was spacing out, her phone started buzzing. She glanced down—speak of the devil. Perfect timing.

She pressed her lips together and picked up, her voice coming out smaller than usual. “Hey… you saw everything, didn’t you?”

That vulnerable tone hit Cassian right in the chest. “Yeah, I saw it. You doing okay?”

“I’m fine. You believe me though, right? Someone totally twisted everything to make it look bad,” Anastasia said tentatively.

“Of course I believe you. Philips is already cleaning this up. Don’t stress about it—I’ll come get you after work tonight,” Cassian said firmly.

“Okay. Thank you so much, baby,” Anastasia said, relief flooding her voice. She’d never experienced this before. With Jasper, she was always the one doing emotional labor. He was the entitled rich boy who expected her to handle her own drama.

So when this blew up, Anastasia had automatically assumed she’d be dealing with it solo.

“Don’t thank me for doing my job. I’m your husband—protecting you is what I’m supposed to do. From now on, anything happens, you call me immediately. Nobody gets to mess with my wife,” Cassian said with finality.

“Got it,” Anastasia nodded, even though he couldn’t see her.

After hanging up, Anastasia couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.

Meanwhile, in Valeria’s apartment, her coffee mug went flying and shattered against the floor, coffee splashing everywhere. “What the actual fuck?!” she stared at her phone in disbelief. Every single post dragging Anastasia had been wiped from the internet. Like it never even happened.

This is bullshit!

One Rhodes Global directly called out the gossip account made by Valerie, blond run—add: Was that bitch actually sleeping with Cassian Rhodes? Why else would his company go nuclear defending her?

She’d completely underestimated the situation. She’d have to be way smarter about this next time. But Valeria wasn’t panicking yet. She’d used enough burner accounts and VPNs that there was no way this could be traced back to her. Still, what a waste of a perfect opportunity.

When Sonia saw the news, she was ready to throw her phone across the room. She couldn’t believe Cassian was white-knighting for that basic bitch so hard. He’d literally weaponized his entire corporation to defend her. Unbelievable!

But Sonia had to keep her rage in check. She knew exactly how much power Cassian wielded. If he connected her to this clusterfuck, she’d be absolutely fucked. The thought made Sonia’s expression turn murderous.

Fine. This was just the opening move, anyway.

Within hours, the entire narrative had completely flipped.