2. Bad Press

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Willow tossed and turned in her sleep, feeling extremely uncomfortable. She sighed as she finally gave up and fumbled blindly for her phone. 

"What are you doing?" She almost jumped out of her skin from the scare. "Go back to sleep." 

She turned around and took in the silhouette of the man in bed with her, his torso definitely naked. 

"What are you doing here? Why are you in bed with me?" She tried to get up but he wrapped his broad arms around her waist and pulled her to him, her back flush against his bare chest. 

"Knox, what are you doing?" Willow's voice came out breezy. 

"I am in bed with my woman, what's so wrong about that?" Knox asked in his sexy sleepy voice. 

Willow wriggled to turn around to face him. But in doing so, she brought her face awfully close to his, his hot breath fanning her. Willow pulled her head away from him as a smirk appeared on Knox's face. 

"If you wanted a kiss, you should have just asked." He said, his tone cocky. 

Willow narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would I want to kiss you? I think you are forgetting that our relationship is fake. It's play pretend. We have only ever kissed for appearance's sake." 

"Haven't you ever wanted to kiss me for real?" He asked. 

Willow gulped. Where was all of this suddenly coming from?

"N-no." She stammered out as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. 

"Liar." Knox booped her nose before placing a kiss on the same spot. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She anything but screamed as she scrambled out of his hold and out of the bed. She quickly turned on the bedside lamp. 

"Get out of my room, Knox." She said, pointing at the closed double doors. 

"This is my penthouse." He shrugged as he held himself up on his elbow, looking as gorgeous as a Greek god. 

"Then I should definitely move out. It is not necessary for people in relationships to stay together, you know. Especially when one of them is getting married to someone else." 

Knox rolled his eyes as he too got up from the bed. 

"How many times do I have to tell you that you cannot leave me?" 

"How many times do I have to tell you that my leaving you is the right thing to do?" Willow retorted. 

Knox shook his head. "Don't run your pretty head too much and simply look pretty." 

Willow wanted to point out that she was not that pretty. Especially not compared to the breathtaking Mia Thompson. But that would only make her sound like a jealous shrew, wouldn't it? And she couldn't afford that because she only had a lit bit of pride to hang on to. 

"Go back to your room, Knox." 

"No." 

"Then I will sleep in the living room." 

That finally had the man moving. He sighed and walked out, but before he left, he spanked her ass making her yelp as she turned around. 

What was wrong with him? Why was he behaving so differently?

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Monday came and Willow had no choice but to go back to the home decor company she worked at - Flourish.

"Why are you still driving this car around?" Susan 'Suzie' Pott, her only friend and work bestie, asked as she huddled into the sleek black Ferrari. "He left you the car as compensation?" 

Willow bit the inside of her cheek as she realized that she could not go around living the life she had been living for the past three years anymore because she needed to appear to not be in a relationship with Knox anymore if she wanted to live a relatively normal life. 

She hated herself for being the other woman but she was not doing anything with Knox that she should not be doing with a committed man and that somehow made her feel better about herself. 

"Something like that." She sighed. 

"Well, I think you should sell it. AND every expensive shit that he has ever gifted you." Susan fixed her hair in the mirror. 

Willow too wished she could do that but she did not think that Knox would appreciate it. 

"It's going to be a long day at the office today." She sighed instead as she navigated the rush hour traffic. 

"Sweetheart, his loss." Susan gave her a sweet smile. "You are the most real thing that had happened to him and he did not have it in him to keep you. I guess someone else is the lucky guy who will get to spend his life blissfully with you." 

Willow felt a pang in her chest when Susan used the words 'most real'. It was ironic because Willow and Knox had the fakest relationship to ever exist. 

Nothing was looking up and nothing was making sense.

She remembered what her father used to say when he was alive. When things get tough, do one day at a time. One hour at a time. One task at a time. 

She was going to do that. 

She knew it was going to be one hell of an eight hours but she was going to survive.

She had to survive. 

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Or not. 

~~Willow Mason clicked in her ex's ride! Are things not over between them?~~

~~The gold digger clicked in her 'hush' ride!~~

And of course, a string of hate comments followed by the self-proclaimed 'KNIA' shippers.

"This kind of negative press is not good for the company." Trisha taunted from her seat. 

"Nobody has mentioned the company so mind your own business!" Susan glared at her as she sashayed over with a chicken wrap and watermelon water. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go out right now." 

Willow sighed as she covered her face with her hands and took deep breaths. She would have to get a new car. She needed a downgrade. Maybe she could get a secondhand biped? Nobody would judge her for being a gold digger if she did that, would they?

"Stop overthinking." Susan parked her butt on her desk. 

Willow's phone vibrated on the desk and the two ladies looked over at it. 

Knox <3

"You haven't blocked him yet?" She whisper-yelled. 

"He pays for my mother's treatment. We still have things to straighten out before I get my clean cut." Willow lied fluently thanks to her acting opportunities in the last three years. 

Susan nodded, realizing it was not that easy to get a clean break from a person who was so involved in your life. 

"Hello?" Willow said into the phone. 

"I am in the basement."

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions and just come over." 

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