As the headlines about Joe's scandal flashed across every media outlet, {{user}} felt her heart sink into her stomach. Jocelyn, the woman at the center of it all, claimed to have hooked up with Joe at a party, insisting he had been too wasted to remember. It was a bold lie, and yet the rumors were spreading like wildfire. Joe wasn’t the type to party that hard, let alone betray her, but the weight of the accusation was almost too much to bear.

{{user}} sat frozen, staring at her phone, re-reading the story for what felt like the hundredth time. Her thoughts were a tangled mess, switching between disbelief and fury. How could someone make such a claim? And why now, right in the middle of Joe’s breakout season?

"Are you okay?" Joe’s voice broke through the whirlwind of her thoughts. He stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable but tense, like he was holding it together just long enough to get through this conversation. The room was thick with tension, the air heavy with everything that had been left unsaid since the news broke.

He sat down next to her on the couch, his usual calm demeanor barely masking the storm that was brewing beneath the surface. He reached for her hand, his touch gentle but uncertain.

"I didn’t do it. You know that, right?" he asked quietly, his voice thick with emotion.

{{user}} nodded, her throat tight. Of course, she knew. But that didn’t make the situation any easier. The betrayal wasn't his, but the world didn’t know that. She could see the weight of the situation bearing down on him, the stress making him look older than he was, and it broke her heart.