My Billionaire Ex Beg For A Second Chance-Chapter 203: Shattered Reflections

The sound of thunderous applause still rang faintly in Felix’s ears as he stepped out of the ballroom. The moment the heavy doors closed behind him, the world outside felt eerily quiet in comparison. The sharp glare of camera flashes still stung his retinas, a harsh reminder of how quickly the night had turned from celebration to chaos.

His jaw was tight, the muscles clenched so hard they ached. The award in his hand felt heavy, not because of its weight, but because of what it had come to represent: a performance, a lie, a spectacle. He should have been proud. Instead, the taste in his mouth was bitter.

"This way, sir," his assistant murmured, appearing at his side, already guiding him toward the sleek black car waiting just outside the venue.

Felix said nothing. His silence was sharp, dangerous. His assistant opened the back door, and Felix ducked inside, tossing the award onto the seat beside him like it was nothing more than junk metal.

"Yes, this is urgent. We need immediate damage control. The engagement rumor is spreading like wildfire-"

Felix snapped his head toward him and held out his hand. "Give me the phone."

The assistant froze. With hesitation, he handed the phone over. Felix snatched it, his knuckles pale from the pressure.

"Put me through to Marlene. Now."

There was a brief pause before the call transferred. "Mr. Crawford," came Marlene’s calm voice, the head of PR. Calm, composed, and always ready for a crisis, but even she sounded tense now.

"I want it cleared. Now," Felix barked, his voice low but cutting. "I don’t care what you have to do. Rebuttals, statements, press releases, interviews. Legal action. I want every article buried. Every photo gone. Every headline erased."

"Understood," Marlene replied. "We’re already working on counter-narratives, but the optics-"

"No excuses," Felix cut her off. "She’s fabricating this. She blindsided me."

There was a beat of silence on the other end. Then, carefully, "Sir, I have to ask, is there any truth to the claim? The footage shows her leaving with you last night."

Felix’s grip on the phone tightened. "We talked. That’s it. She ambushed me when I was vulnerable. She’s manipulating the press. I should’ve known Lara would pull something like this."

He breathed heavily through his nose, nostrils flaring, before he forced himself to speak more evenly. "She had a photographer waiting. You can tell by the angle of the shots. She wanted this to go viral."

"Understood. We’ll push back hard. I’ll get legal on standby," Marlene promised.

"Make it clean, Marlene. I don’t want any trace of this left by morning."

He ended the call and handed the phone back to his assistant.

"Call everyone. I want a cleanup on this, top to bottom. Get Clara in legal to start prepping a defamation suit, and make sure marketing doesn’t post anything else until I approve it myself."

"Yes, sir. Right away."

Felix turned his face to the window, exhaling slowly. The soft hum of the car engine did little to calm him. He pulled out his own phone and opened news outlet.

He scrolled through the photos. They were from last night. One in particular made his stomach twist, Lara, with her hand on his arm, her smile smug and confident, as if she’d already won.

He stared at the photo longer than he meant to. His expression in the shot was neutral, maybe even distant. But to the world, it could easily be interpreted as romantic. Close. Real.

"Damn it," he muttered.

He rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. A headache was building behind his eyes.

"Sir..." his assistant said cautiously. "Are you sure you want to escalate this publicly? If we push too hard, it could backfire. People might think you’re trying to hide something."

Felix turned to him, his eyes cold. "The only thing I want to hide is the fact that I ever spoke to her in the first place."

He let out a breath, jaw ticking.

"We need to protect Katherine too," he added, almost to himself.

The assistant blinked. "Miss Anderson?"

Felix nodded, more to his own thoughts than the question. "She’s going to see this. This kind of rumor, it doesn’t just hurt my image. It hurts her."

The assistant glanced down, guilty. "Should we inform her about the statement before it goes out?"

"Yes. But not yet. Let me talk to her first."

Felix closed his eyes briefly, leaning his head back against the seat. The leather was cool against his scalp. His mind raced.

The echo of the emcee’s voice still lingered in his head: "Congratulations to Felix Crawford... and to his lovely fiancée?" The way the crowd had gasped, the way cameras had swarmed.

His fingers itched to throw the phone across the car, to scream, to go back in time.

But he couldn’t.

Instead, he did what he always did: damage control.

He reopened the photos. Lara had posed like it was a red carpet event. Felix stared at the screen, every muscle in his jaw locked tight.

The headline blared louder than the applause had.

Felix Crawford and Mysterious Fiancée? Surprise Announcement at Gala Shakes Industry

And below it, dozens of photos. Him onstage. The emcee smirking. Lara smiling like the cat who caught the canary, her hand suspiciously close to his. Angles were deceptive. Poses manipulated. But to the public? It looked like a dream engagement reveal.

He exhaled sharply, pressing two fingers against his brow. Damn it.

Please don’t have seen it. Please, Katherine...

He could only pray she hadn’t refreshed her newsfeed. Or checked social media. Or glanced at the trending topics, where his name sat like a loaded landmine.

And if she had?

He raked a hand through his hair, the pressure behind his eyes building.

If she had seen it, then he’d need more than just an explanation. He’d need a damn miracle.

Because there was no version of this where it didn’t look bad. Where it didn’t feel like betrayal.

If this led to even the smallest fracture in Katherine’s trust...

If she believed for a second that he’d fed into this circus.... he would make damn sure Lara and the damn paparazzi regretted it.