The Rumor That Shook the 60th Floor!

Aurum Tower — 7:36 A.M.

The day began with the kind of silence that only meant one thing:

Disaster was brewing.

The elevators glowed. The floors gleamed. The office lights hummed. Everything seemed normal…

…until the receptionist, Cara, gasped so loudly that three interns dropped their coffee.

“Oh. My. GOD.”

Phones paused mid-scroll.

Keyboards froze mid-click.

Heads popped over cubicle walls like meerkats.

“What? What happened?” an intern whispered.

Cara lowered her voice dramatically.

“I just heard…”

She took a breath.

“…Ms. Knight is… PREGNANT.”

A collective gasp echoed.

“Pregnant?!”

“What?!”

“With WHO?!”

“Is it Adrian? It has to be Adrian, right?”

And because humans have two hobbies — eating and creating chaos — the rumor spread like wildfire.

By 8:10 A.M., the Marketing team knew.

By 8:20 A.M., IT knew.

By 8:30 A.M., Finance had theories.

By 8:40 A.M., even the security guards were whispering:

“Vale’s gonna be a dad.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“…Should we knit something?”

It grew bigger.

Wilder.

Messier.

By 9:00 A.M., the rumor reached Floor 60.

No one was prepared.

Least of all Adrian Vale.

---

THE BOSS HEARS THE RUMOR

Adrian entered the office with his usual calm, controlled walk — suit crisp, hair perfect, face unreadable.

Employees froze like statues.

Noah, his assistant, ran up to him, sweating.

“Sir—sir—sir—good morning, sir—!”

Adrian raised a brow. “Why are you panting?”

“Sir—there is—something—happening.”

“What now?”

Noah swallowed.

“It’s… about Ms. Knight.”

Adrian stopped walking.

Cold fear shot through him — the irrational, unwanted, uninvited kind he hated.

“What happened to her?” he demanded.

“N-Nothing happened to her, sir! It’s just—there’s a rumor.”

“What rumor?”

Noah squeezed his eyes shut.

“That she’s… she’s… pregnant.”

Silence.

Adrian blinked once.

Twice.

Then:

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“She can’t be.”

“I know, sir.”

“I would know.”

“I KNOW, SIR.”

Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose. “Who started this?”

“We don’t know. But the entire building thinks YOU are the father.”

Adrian froze.

His soul left his body.

Came back.

Left again.

“W H A T.”

Noah whimpered. “Everyone believes it.”

Adrian stared at him in horror.

“I— how— why would anyone—”

Then he realized something.

He had delayed meetings for her.

He had publicly defended her.

He had walked in with her at the gala.

They looked too close in photos.

Too comfortable.

Too… something.

And they had just had a moment the day before.

A very obvious moment.

Noah whispered, “Sir, I tried to deny it, but they think I’m covering for you.”

Adrian exhaled deeply.

He needed a plan.

He needed to handle this professionally.

He needed to—

find Seraphina before she found out.

He didn’t want her panicking.

He didn’t want her angry.

He didn’t want her hurt.

So he marched straight toward her office—

—but she walked out at the same time.

They froze.

Her hair glowed in the morning light.

Her lips parted in confusion.

Her expression was soft, sleepy, beautiful—

And then twenty pairs of eyes peeked around the corner.

Whispering.

Watching.

Waiting.

Because apparently the “father” had arrived.

Seraphina narrowed her eyes.

“Oh no,” she said slowly.

“Why is everyone looking at me like I’m holding a newborn?”

Adrian inhaled sharply.

Here we go.

---

THE RUMOR HITS SERAPHINA

Seraphina walked toward Adrian with suspicion.

“What did you do?” she demanded.

“Me? Nothing.”

“Then why is Finance smiling at me like I’m their future mother-in-law?”

Adrian hesitated.

“Seraphina… I need you to stay calm.”

“Calm? Why would I need to stay calm?”

He took another breath.

“There’s… a rumor.”

“What kind of rumor?” she asked, annoyed.

He stared at her.

She stared back.

He opened his mouth.

“Seraphina… they think you’re—”

And then an intern burst out:

“CONGRATULATIONS, MS. KNIGHT!!”

Seraphina blinked.

The intern shoved a pink cupcake box into her hands.

“For the baby!”

Seraphina stared at the box.

Then at the intern.

Then at Adrian.

“What baby,” she said flatly.

The intern beamed. “Yours!”

Silence.

Seraphina’s left eyelid twitched.

“Oh,” she said calmly.

“So I’m pregnant.”

“Yes!”

“How lovely.”

Adrian held his breath.

“And who,” she continued sweetly, “is the father?”

The intern pointed enthusiastically at Adrian.

Seraphina turned very slowly.

“I see.”

Adrian swallowed.

“I can explain.”

She crossed her arms. “Please do.”

But before he could, two HR ladies appeared:

“Ms. Knight, we’ve prepared maternity policy documents!”

“And baby shower ideas!”

“And leave schedules—”

“And paid medical—”

Adrian interrupted sharply.

“She is NOT pregnant.”

The HR ladies giggled. “Oh, he’s shy.”

“We totally understand, Mr. Vale.”

“We won’t pressure you to announce yet.”

Adrian felt his blood pressure skyrocket.

Seraphina rubbed her temples. “I’m going to kill someone.”

Everyone gasped and ran back to their desks.

---

PRIVATE OFFICE — CHAOS ROUND TWO

Adrian shut the office door behind them.

Seraphina placed the cupcake box on the table.

Then she turned slowly and said:

“Who do you want me to murder first?”

“Seraphina, calm down.”

“I AM CALM,” she said in a tone that proved she was not calm.

Adrian sighed. “We need to fix this.”

She glared. “How did this even start?!”

“I don’t know.”

“No one randomly wakes up and thinks someone is pregnant, Adrian.”

“That’s true,” he muttered. “But it’s this office. Logic doesn’t exist here anymore.”

Seraphina paced.

Her hair swished dramatically.

Her heels clicked aggressively.

“This is humiliating,” she groaned.

Adrian stepped closer. “It’s not. It’s just a rumor.”

She shot him a look. “Oh, please. They think we’re having a baby together.”

He cleared his throat. “There are worse rumors.”

“Name one.”

“That I fired someone for stealing my stapler.”

“You DID fire someone for stealing your stapler.”

Adrian looked offended. “It was a vintage marble stapler!”

“Not helping.”

She paced again.

“Great. Amazing. Perfect. Now the whole building thinks I’m carrying your child.”

Her voice rose on “your.”

He blinked. “That bothers you?”

“Yes! Because it’s absurd.”

“…Absurd?”

“Yes!”

She didn’t notice the slight hurt in his eyes.

Or how his jaw tensed.

Or how he said quietly:

“Well. You could at least say the idea isn’t… horrifying.”

She froze.

Turned.

“What did you say?”

He straightened. “Nothing.”

“No, no, no. You said something.”

Adrian looked away.

Which he never did.

“Adrian,” she said slowly, “does the idea bother YOU?”

He opened his mouth—

—but right then the door burst open again.

This time by Accounting.

“Ms. Knight, we need you to approve baby-related insurance documents—”

Seraphina threw a pen at them.

They screamed and fled.

Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose.

“This office needs therapy,” he muttered.

---

WHO STARTED THE RUMOR?

They headed straight to the café on the 12th floor, where gossip thrived best.

The moment they stepped inside, the room went silent.

Dead silent.

People stared.

Someone dropped a spoon.

A barista fainted.

Adrian muttered, “This is ridiculous.”

Seraphina marched to the counter. “Who started the rumor?”

Everyone avoided eye contact.

A trembling intern pointed at another intern.

That intern pointed at the barista.

The barista pointed at the HR lady.

The HR lady pointed at the Marketing girl.

The Marketing girl burst into tears.

“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!”

Seraphina narrowed her eyes. “Explain.”

“I—I saw you and Mr. Vale together last night—at the event—and you looked so close and he was touching your back and you were blushing and he delayed his meeting for you and you were wearing a tight dress so I thought maybe—maybe—”

Seraphina inhaled sharply. “So you assumed I was pregnant because I looked good?”

“NO! I just— I just—”

Adrian stepped in.

“Enough. Stop crying. No more rumors. Clear?”

She nodded vigorously.

But Seraphina wasn’t done.

She leaned forward.

“Next time you want drama,” she said with a wicked smile, “watch a soap opera. Don’t invent one.”

The girl nodded again, trembling.

---

THE OFFICE APOLOGIZES… TOO MUCH

Back on the 60th floor, employees lined up like toddlers awaiting punishment.

Each carried a gift.

Baby socks.

Baby bibs.

Baby bottles.

Flowers.

One person brought a stroller.

“A STROLLER?!” Seraphina yelled. “WHY?!”

“We thought you’d need it…”

Adrian sighed. “No one is pregnant.”

The room murmured.

“Is he lying?”

“He’s totally lying.”

“He’s protecting her.”

“He’s so noble.”

“I ship them.”

“I ship them too.”

Adrian’s eye twitched.

Noah whispered, “Sir, this may be the worst day of your life.”

Adrian whispered back, “It absolutely is.”

---

WHEN THINGS GET WORSE… THEY GET WORSE

Just when Seraphina thought it couldn’t get any worse—

Elsa Vale, Adrian’s elegant, terrifying mother, called.

On speaker.

“Adrian, sweetheart,” she said warmly. “Why didn’t you TELL ME?!”

Adrian froze.

Seraphina froze.

Employees froze.

Adrian swallowed. “Tell you… what?”

“That I’m going to be a grandmother!”

Adrian nearly passed out.

“MOTHER. NO.”

Seraphina shouted, “WE ARE NOT HAVING A BABY.”

“Oh,” Elsa said gently.

A pause.

Then—

“…yet?”

“MOTHER!!”

Elsa laughed. “Well, I’ll start knitting anyway.”

The call ended.

Seraphina turned slowly to Adrian.

“Your mother thinks I’m pregnant.”

Adrian looked like he needed holy water.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?”

“Yes.”

“This is your fault.”

“How—?”

“You didn’t deny it fast enough!”

“I SAID IT WAS FALSE!”

“Well, you didn’t say it passionately.”

Adrian stared at her. “How does one passionately deny pregnancy?”

Seraphina threw her hands up. “I don’t know, Adrian! But somehow this is your fault!”

Adrian rubbed his face. “This day is insane.”

“Yes,” she agreed. Then paused. “But… kind of funny.”

He looked at her.

“What?”

She shrugged.

“It’s our first scandal.”

He blinked.

Then, unexpectedly—

he laughed.

Soft.

Low.

Real.

The sound startled her.

It warmed her.

She found herself smiling.

---

THE QUIET MOMENT AMID CHAOS

After hours of damage control, the rumor finally stopped spreading.

Sort of.

Mostly.

Maybe.

Seraphina sat on the lounge sofa, exhausted.

Adrian approached with two coffees.

He handed her one.

She stared at it. “Is this… peace offering?”

“It’s caffeine,” he said. “You need it.”

She took the cup.

Their fingers brushed.

She didn’t pull away.

He sat beside her — close enough that their shoulders brushed.

They were quiet for a moment.

Then he spoke softly.

“I was worried.”

“About the rumor?”

“No.”

He looked at her carefully.

“I was worried about how you’d feel.”

She blinked.

“Oh.”

He continued, quieter:

“I never want you to feel humiliated.”

Her chest tightened.

“…Even if the rumor was insane?”

“Especially then,” he said.

Seraphina hesitated.

Then whispered:

“Adrian… earlier you said the idea wasn’t horrifying. What did you mean?”

He met her eyes.

Steady.

Honest.

Serious.

“I meant exactly what I said.”

Her breath caught.

“Adrian…”

He leaned slightly closer.

“Seraphina.”

Their knees brushed.

Her heart pounded.

“Just to be clear,” she whispered, “I’m not pregnant.”

His lips curled slightly.

“I know.”

“Good,” she said.

“Good,” he echoed.

The air heated.

Their faces were too close.

Too intimate.

Too—

“Heyyyyy, Mr. Vale, Ms. Knight—are we still pretending you’re not having a baby?”

The janitor yelled across the hall.

Seraphina groaned and buried her face in her hands.

Adrian sighed deeply.

“Why do we work here,” he muttered.

She laughed.

He smiled.

And even with all the chaos—

Their eyes held.

Longer than before.

Warmer than before.

Something was changing.

Something neither could deny.

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