Author: BTMBeta

Natalie turned off the TV and sighed.

She wasn’t expecting the public opinion shift completely in just a matter of hours.She took out her phone and began reading news about Emani on the Internet.

All the brands that she had previously endorsed announced the termination of her contract, and the comment section for each article was bombarded with hate speech against Emani.

Even on various social media platforms, this was the hottest issue, and the netizens didn’t hold back with their criticisms.

Emani had done many other despicable things in the past, so people didn’t really find it hard to believe that she had also framed Natalie this time.

Gradually, they began expressing their regrets in public, and some even apologized to Natalie for wrongfully pinning the blame on her.

As Natalie scrolled through the social media sites, she realized that Emani’s account had been officially deleted and could no longer be found.

She seemed to have been banned from the Intemet altogether.

Just then, Natalie received a message from Gerda.

“I heard that Emani’s Twitter account has been deleted.Serves her right! Finally, the whole thing has been brought to light! I am so pleased with how things tumed out.”

The text ended with a couple of cute smiling emojis.

Natalie pursed her lips and smiled as well.

For some reason, the sight of the comments and her friend’s text brought her comfort.She felt her anger slowly ebb away.

At last, this matter could be laid to rest.

“Looks like the trouble Emani caused is finally cleared up.”

Sebastian stood at the door, a gray, woolen scarf wrapped around his neck.He was carrying a large grocery bag in one of his hands.

Natalie turned to him with a wide grin on her face.

“Someone posted the footage of us by the lake that day on the Internet. It proved that Emani fell into the water by herself.Now, everybody is apologizing to me. This feels so good.”

Sebastian chuckled under his breath.

His pretty little wife was so simple and naive.

If it were his former self, he would have looked down on her with disdain.

But now, he could only feel sorry for the likes of Natalie, who often got bullied by the rich and the powerful.

He made up his mind to protect her for the rest of their lives, no matter the cost.

Sebastian strode across the living room and went straight to the kitchen.

“I’ll make some good dishes to celebrate,” he said as he passed by.

Natalie hurriedly put on her slippers and followed after him.

“Great!” she said happily.

“I want to eat some braised pork, please.”

They bickered in the kitchen for a while.

All of a sudden, Natalie turned pensive.

“Don’t you think I’ve been too lucky lately, Sebastian? Emani has gotten away with her evil deeds all this time. Why was she exposed now, after so many years? Isn’t it too much of a coincidence?”

Sebastian’s hand froze While in the jewelry store Insi time, he had noticed that something was going on between Emani and Natalie.

The first thing he did was to tell his people not to renew Emani’s contract once it expired And when than heard that she had signed a contract with Klein Silk Fabric, he kept an eye on her.

After all, Klein Silk Tabric belonged to the Klein family On the same day the scandal was exposed and Natalie was being accused of by the public, Sebastian immediately asked the public relations department of the Larson Group to deal with it.

Fortunately, there was a lot of dirt on Emani before Not long after Emani’s career took off, her company bought off all the paparazzi who had dirt on her to keep their mouths shut, in order to maintain her good image His last resort in exposing Emani’s dirty past was making his men do a secret investigation.

Then his next step was to approach Kirby, a renowned reporter in the entertainment industry.

Over the years, he had reported a lot of exclusive news that were all proven to be real.

Hence, his name became famous.

Sebastian knew Kirby was the right person to expose Emani’s secrets.

So he asked this reporter to write a long article using the information he had given him.

At first, Kirby hesitated.

It was because he knew too well that the information Sebastian had asked him to revealed could completely end Emani’s career.

Unlike him, Sebastian was merciless.

If it was only a simple argument, he wouldn’t have come to this point.

But Emani deliberately framed Natalie and used her fans to bully the latter online.

How could Sebastian tolerate it? On second thought, he knew that exposing Emani’s true colors was not enough to salve the problem.

It would be better if they found evidence that could prove Natalie’s innocence.

Everyone should know that she didn’t really push Emani into the water.

So on that night, Sebastian ordered his men to search for all the tourists that were there at that time.

Fortunately for Natalie, someone among thousands of tourists had taken a video of Natalie and Emani.

Sebastian snapped out of his trance and turned around to look at Natalie.

His eyes were calm, coupled with his deep and perfect features, creating a powerful visual impact.

“Aren’t there people analyzing this matter online? Such dirt on Emani had been dug out and been exposed before, but her PR

teams had paid to suppress them.Considering her ill personality, Emani must have offended many celebrities and reporters. Taking advantage of this opportunity to drag her name through the mud will give a fatal blow to Emani.This is a win-win situation for both the reporters and her rivals.”

In a daze, Natalie quietly listened to Sebastian’s analysis.

The more she learned about Sebastian, the more she realized that he was different from the rest of the people she knew.

His temperament, behaviors, and thoughts were all very unique.

At that moment, Natalie felt that he was a wise person in disguise all along.

As she got closer and closer to the real Sebastian, Natalie felt a little jittery for some reason.

“Well, your analysis makes sense.”

Pretending to be calm, Natalie smiled at Sebastian before walking back to the sofa in front of the TV.Her eyes were glued to the screen.

A lot of things happened in Seacisco during that winter.

Emani, a popular celebrity, had been the center of criticism.She basically lost everything, including her fans.

New faces soon occupied the big screen of the central square of Seacisco.

Emani was just another pretty face.

People would soon completely forget about her now that she was gone.

Two weeks after the incident, Natalie went back to work.

Nothing much had changed the employees of Larson Group still talked a lot about her.

But this time, they weren’t badmouthing her.

They were all sympathizing with her alter she had been framed by Emani.

Either way, Natalie didn’t really care.

All she cared about now was her and Sebastian’s family.

Everything else didn’t matter. The hours passed like the cold piercing wind outside.

When Natalie got off work, it was still snowing heavily. Putting on her gloves and scarf, she walked out of the building, and headlight of.a luxury car.

Natalie heard the door closed, and when she looked up, she saw a man walking in the foggy snow. It was Kent.He looked fairer with his black coat in the snow.His nose was a little red because of the cold.

With just this handsome face, anyone who didn’t know him much would think he was a good man.

“It’s a cold day.How would you like to have a cup of coffee with me, Miss Quinn?”

Kent stepped on the snow to get to Natalie, but then he kept his distance and kept his voice calm and respectful.

Natalie could not refuse because he had helped her again just recently, so she pointed to somewhere in the distance and said,

“There is a coffeehouse right around the corner.This will be my treat for all the help you rendered the last time.”

Kent was rather amused, so he asked, “Do you have to keep things so formal all the time? I wasn’t expecting repayment”

Natalie simply stared at him and shrugged her shoulders.She said, “In that case, there’s no need to go and get coffee with you.Can I go home now?”

“I wish the rumors were true, that Natalie really hooked up with someone in the Larson Group.I’ve been worried that it may be Sebastian who has been helping her.It would be horrible if he had such powers and connections.”

The more Elissa thought about it, the more she felt that it was highly possible.

Ritchie stood up in an instant and laughed sardonically.

“Sebastian? How could it be him? He’s just a loser! Natalie must be sleeping with someone powerful, and that dickhead, Sebastian, is still pathetically unaware of it.”

Elissa glanced at Ritchie and sneered.She couldn’t believe her son’s naivete.

“Sebastian is just like his mother. They’re excellent schemers.Don’t be fooled by what they choose to show you.Do not underestimate him.I’ve always suspected that there’s more to him than what meets the eye.”

There was a reason why Elissa thought so.

After Nora’s birthday party, she had sent a lot of people to follow and investigate Sebastian.

Either there was nothing important to report, or the men she sent just disappeared, both of which were anomalous results.

Since then, she had been convinced that Sebastian was more powerful than he was letting on.

“Are you kidding, Mom? He had never done well in school, and he had always been quiet and unsuccessful. What could someone like him achieve?”

Ritchie didn’t believe it.He had always remembered Sebastian as the loser that he constantly bullied.

Still, Elissa thought that Ritchie was making a mistake by trivializing his enemy.

“My silly son, if he’s really as stupid as you think, then how do you think did he get into Seacisco High School’s top class? Do you think that we paid his way in?”

Back then, the Klein family had to “donate” millions of dollars to get Ritchie into Seacisco High School, and he had only lacked a few scores.

But at that time, Elissa didn’t think that it was a big deal that Sebastian also got into Seacisco High School.

She thought that Sebastian’s intelligence was no threat to the Klein family’s power and fortune.

There was nothing Sebastian could do to go against them.

Now she regretted her decision to pay no mind to Sebastian. She realized that dangers were dangers no matter their size, and they should be dealt with the moment they presented themselves.

Finally able to connect the dots, Ritchie stared at his mother with wide eyes.He was instantly enlightened.He flashed Elissa a ferocious look and asked, “What if it’s really Sebastian? We have to do something, Mom!”

Looking into Ritchie’s eyes, Elissa felt inexplicably anxious.She picked up the box of cigarettes on the table.She fished out a cigarette and lit it.

As smoke filled her lungs, she let herself get lost in thought.

A sense of crisis rose in her heart.She had always been a decisive person.She decided to continue what she wanted to do but failed back then.She took several deep drags before flicking the cigarette to the ground and stubbing it with her shoe.

“It’s time to get rid of Sebastian.”

Natalie had no idea what had been happening outside.

Stewing in her own anxiety, she locked herself up at home.She drew all the curtains shut, plunging the room in depressing shadows.

The fridge was empty.

Sebastian went out to buy some food.

When Natalie peeked through the curtain to look outside winter dusk greeted her, which very much looked like nighttime.

There was still a large group of fans besieging the neighborhood, especially their building.

Natalie sighed.

She was about to look away when a new wave of commotion seemed to stir the crowd.

Everyone was still very agitated.

They were looking at something on their phones and discussing animatedly among themselves.

However, the “Natalie, apologize” banners had gone down, and no one screamed and cursed at Natalie’s window anymore.

Natalie felt that the angry mob was no longer upset with her.

They seemed to have calmed down a bit.

The security guards blew the whistles and dispersed the crowd.

Finally, they were able to clear a path through the gate.

Natalie’s phone then rang.

Because the room was as silent as a tomb, the sound startled Natalie.

She rushed to find her phone and answer the call.

It was Laney.

Since Natalie and Laney parted at the staircase, they hadn’t contacted each other.

Natalie felt that since she was the target of public criticism now, she might get Laney in trouble if she kept communicating with her.

“Natalie? Have you checked your phone?” Laney asked in an excited voice, which was rare.

She usually spoke in a nonchalant monotone.

“No.Sebastian took away my phone and shut off the Internet connection.He was afraid that I would be even more anxious if I

checked my phone,” Natalie replied, drooping her shoulders.

“Then turn on the TV and check out the news.”

“Sorry, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.I’m not in the best of moods right now.If I watch the news now, I may have to ask for a long leave after,” Natalie said as if she was joking.

She didn’t want others to think that she cared too much.

Laney said with a smile in her voice, “It’s not about you.It’s about Emani.Last night, a lot of news against Emani was exposed to the public, and she’s now being criticized online.I think seeing it on TV will make you feel better.”

Laney’s words reminded Natalie of the strange scenes downstairs just now.She picked up the remote control on the tea table and reluctantly turned on the TV.

Emani was indeed all over the news.

Her dirty past had been laid out in the open, and many influential TV personalities were condemning her and calling her a bad influence whose immorality knew no bounds.

The public’s attention was now on Emani.

It seemed that everyone had already forgotten about Natalie.

Natalie was stunned.

She couldn’t believe that she had survived such a desperate situation.She didn’t understand how the tables suddenly turned, but she was immensely relieved.She switched to another TV channel.

It was broadcasting news from someone who claimed to be present at the scenic tourist spot where Emani met her accident.

He released a video he had taken at that time.

Emani and Natalie were on it, and they were by the lake.

The angle was perfect, and it captured what really happened between Natalie and Emani that day.

Natalie hadn’t touched Emani the entire time.

It was Emani who held Natalie’s hand and seemed to use much force.

Natalie looked a little uncomfortable in the video, but before she could do anything, Emani had already fallen into the lake.

Natalie looked a little uncomfortable in the video, but before she could do anything, Emani had already fallen into the lake.

Natalie had known well that there were no security cameras around the lake, which was also partly why she hadn’t bothered to assert her own defense.

She simply didn’t see the paint-no one would believe her when she didn’t have any evidence to back her up.

But surprisingly someone had filmed the whole thing, and the footage could finally prove that she hadn’t pushed Emani into the lake.

The TV stations feasted on the story, and some of them even went as far as to interview random passersby and ask for their opinion on the matter.

“What do you think of this incident?”

“I honestly think that the standards for artists and celebrities these days have reached a new low.It looks like even an ill-mannered and talentless girl can be a star as long as she looks the part.”

“Yes, I’ve seen the video, and it led me to do a bit of digging Apparently, Emani hasn’t even graduated from college.She only managed to be where she is now by latching on to some rich old man. With her disgusting character and her questionable morals, I think she deserves to be banned from the entertainment circle entirely.”

“I heard that Emani purposely incited her fans to bash Natalie on the Internet.I’m telling you, that woman is crazy! Natalie is a good person who’s done nothing wrong, yet she had to suffer such malice.I really feel sorry for her.”

When Emani saw these hateful comments, she was so infuriated that she snapped in the room, and screamed shrilly, “You psychos.I have never asked you to do anything! It’s none of my business what you decide to do!”

After cursing, she immediately paid some people to put in good words for her on the Internet But her tactic didn’t work.

This had gone viral across the Internet.

The next morning, her company sent a car to pick her up to take her to their offices.

Emani had stayed up all night from the sheer stress of the situation.

There were dark circles under her eyes.

“I was wronged.The news Kirby revealed was mostly made up by him!”

Emani still wanted to defend herself.

The PR manager didn’t believe a single word she uttered.

They had been working all through last night trying to do damage control so that they could make the topic about Emani subside.

However, many people who had been hurt by Emani in the past also took the opportunity to take a stand and speak out against her.

It was then when the PR department realized that this might not just be a coincidence.

Emani might have offended some big shot, who was taking revenge on her.

After all, why else would all the people she ever bullied just appear online to point fingers at her overnight?

After the PR department weighed both the pros and cons, they discovered that Emani was in a fix and that it would be hard to get her out of this situation.

Since she had offended someone higher-up, it was not worth it to have the entire company go down with her.

Even though she was a popular actress now, they had no other choice but to let her go.

Furthermore, newcomers came into the industry every day.

They could always cultivate a brand-new star after her.

The company had given their final decision to Ruby, who was Emani’s agent.

“Ruby, did you hear from them yet? What did they say? Just say the word and I’ll hold a press conference to clarify the whole matter.”

Emani’s eyes were still swollen from all the crying.

Ruby let out a long sigh.

“You’re in a lot of trouble now.Everyone is talking about you.After careful discussion, the company has decided to terminate its contract with you. You happened to start the whole thing, Emani.lt’s best if you just walk away right now.”

Emani was shocked to hear that.

“So you’re saying that you’re going to dump me?”

Ruby said with indifference plastered all over her face, “Emani, just look at yourself and the mess you’ve gotten yourself into. How do you expect us to save you now? When you signed the contract with the company, you promised you would maintain a good image. You brought everything upon yourself today.”

After that, she walked off with the contract and left.

Emani was feeling so emotional that she was on the cusp of breaking down.She sat there in her seat in a daze for a long time and decided to call Ritchie for help.She believed that Ritchie would heip her out in her time of need.

After all, it was him who asked her to frame Natalie and who promised to make her more famous after she did that.

However, as soon as Ritchie answered her call, Emani heard him say with a sigh, “Emani, how dare you call me right now? I

heard you did so many bad things.I have to say, I happen to be very disappointed in you.”

Emani was at a loss for words.

“Mr.Klein, it goes without saying, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.I had no idea Kirby would leak all that news about me.They should’ve been hidden well.Mr.Klein, please help me out this one time-.After this, I’ll be all yours for the taking!”

“Unfortunately, I don’t need you anymore, Emani. You brought this to yourself. There’s nothing I can do to help you out.”

His words were cutting and ruthless.

After that, he hung up the phone before Emani could say another word.

Emani stared at the blank screen in utter disbelief, her beautiful eyes opening wide.

She clenched her teeth tightly and said, “What a bastard!”

While cursing him, she kept calling Ritchie but was not able to reach him again.

Obviously, she had been blocked by him.

Later, Klein Silk Fabric issued a statement that they had terminated their contract with Emani because of her immoral behaviors earlier.

After she was sent home by her assistant, Emani was so enraged that she took out a bottle of red wine from the cupboard, opened it, and gulped almost the entire bottle down.

The dark red liquid leaked out of the corner of her lips and stained her dress.

Emani was kneeling on the ground, her eyes bloodshot as she cursed, “Those righteous snobs! when I was famous, everyone came to bask in my light.Now that I’m down and out, no one is willing to even help me!”

Her assistant listened without saying a word.

Things had always been this way.

Everyone in the showbiz happened to be a snob.She then directed her next words to Emani.

“Emarni, it’s required that I take all the clothes, bags and accessories back.All these items belong to the brand companies, who are asking us to return them.”

“Take them and leave immediately!”

Emani glared daggers at her and shouted out loud.

Not only was her reputation destroyed and that she had been abandoned by everyone closest to her, but she also had to pay a huge penalty.

She was about to break down very soon.

The assistant left Emani’s place with the clothes and other things in her arms.

After she closed the door behind her, she looked at Emani again and what she saw made her very sad.

It was like she was looking at a rose that had just withered.

At the Klein family home.

After hanging up with Emani, Ritchie took a sip of his brandy.

The bronze liquid burned his throat, but that was the least of his problems.

He tried to bite down the anger that surged from the deepest parts of his mind and miserably failed.

“Fuck! That crazy woman! Why would she call me at this juncture? Did she want to bring me down with her?”

Elissa had just gotten home after playing cards with her rich girlfriends and found Ritchie sitting at the garden and fuming with rage.

She frowned, walked over to him, and asked, “What’s wrong? Is it about business? Did the board members pick on you again?”

“They dare not.I’m a Klein.Only fools pick on Kleins.It’s Sebastian’s wife.She keeps making trouble for Klein Silk Fabric.Damn it! I

really have to teach that bitch a lesson!”

Ritchie was an irritable man who always did things on impulse.He never let go of anyone who made him unhappy.

Elissa strode gracefully in front of Ritchie and faced him.

With a stern look on her face, she raised a finger and poked Ritchie in the forehead.

“So you’re fighting with women now? That’s what losers do.”

omen nc Ritchie rubbed his forehead and complained, “There must be someone helping her, Mom! When we tried to frame

Natalie, someone contacted Kirby Wilde to dig up dirt on Emani.I know how the entertainment industry works, and I know what the fans can do.I thought I could finally bring down Natalie, but someone immediately targeted Emani.I don’t believe it’s a coincidence.Natalie must have a very powerful backer.”

Elissa had also been following the news.

Emani was browsing Twitter at her residence to check the latest news.She was stretching and yawning in the meantime as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

In fact, she was not sick.She had eaten well, slept peacefully, and wasn’t suffering from any ailment.She had asked for leave and abstained from going to the shooting site just to manipulate public opinion.

“Emani, Natalie is completely doomed now.”

Emani’s assistant handed the iPad to her with a smile.

A piece of a thin cucumber slice she had kept on her face as a skin care mask fell down.

She casually tossed it into her mouth and read the news on the iPad as a smug smile emerged on her face.

“She deserves it!”

The assistant felt relieved.

Seeing Emani wandering in the living room in a sleeveless dress, she advised, “Emani, you better go back to your bedroom.I heard the paparazzi are waiting outside your house.If they see you wandering in the living room, looking agile, they would make a fuss.”

Emani grew vigilant.She immediately picked up her coat and put it on.

“I have no more work for you here. You can go back now.I’ll contact you if something happens.And I don’t think we need to do anything about public opinion on the Internet for now.Just tell everyone that I have a high fever and am hospitalized.”

With that, Emani hurried upstairs and returned to her bedroom.

“Great!”

Emani was grinning from ear to ear.She was happy to hear that everyone disliked Natalie.She had to thank Ritchie Klein of Klein Silk Fabric for this.

Otherwise, a trivial problem like this wouldn’t have blown out of proportion this way.

Not long after she met Natalie in the jewelry store last time, her contract with the Larson Group expired.She had thought they would renew the contract.

After all, she was now a popular star in the entertainment circle.

Many companies wanted to sign her as the spokesperson.

Unexpectedly, the Larson Group decided not to renew the contract with her.

They gave a vague reason that she was not suitable to be the spokesperson of the Larson Group’s clothing brand.

Emani was upset when she heard it.

After all, it was the biggest humiliation of her fife.

Besides, she had refused to collaborate with other companies, stating she would renew the contract with the Larson Group A popular actress like her was always the target of competition.

She didn’t expect the Larson Group wouldn’t want to renew the contract with her.

It was no different from kicking her out.

After terminating the contract with the Larson Group, Emani listened to her agent’s advice and signed a contract with Klein Silk Fabric.

On the day of signing the contract, Emani saw Ritchie and talked with him.

Both of them mentioned Natalie.

That was when she knew Ritchie also had a grudge against her nemesis.

People with the same enemies were likely to become allies.

Ritchie and Emani then cooperated in a tacit understanding.

Emani had some scruples before.

She had seen the blue diamond ring on Natalie’s finger in the shopping mall last time and suspected that Natalie had a powerful background.

After talking to Ritchie, she learned that Natalie’s husband, Sebastian, was a member of the Larson family.

Although the Larson family had collapsed, it was customary for them to keep their family heirlooms.

Therefore, Emani felt relieved.

She had thought that Natalie had some special identity or backer to own such precious jewelry as “the Ocean’.

After knowing the truth, her attitude towards Natalie changed into disdain and contempt.

Back then, Ritchie had probably figured out what she was thinking.

He also implied she could take advantage of her huge fan following to deal with Natalie.

That way, she would be safe and cause more damage to Natalie’s reputation.

In return, Ritchie promised to give her the best resources and make her more famous.

Emani thought for a while and agreed.

She decided to wait for the right time and opportunity.

After all, the Klein family was powerful.

She could make steady profits without losing anything.

Emani believed even God was helping her.

The other day, she saw Natalie from afar when they were filming.

Emani came up with a plan and fell into the water, making it seem like Natalie had pushed her.

It was already quite late into the night when Emani woke up from her nap She picked up her phone, squinting her eyes, and logged into her Twitter.

The discussion about the incident on the Internet was getting more and more intense it would be strange if she still didn’t say anything after everyone kept urging her to say something

Perhaps she could try to win everyone’s pity by claiming that she hadn’t been able to sleep because of her worries She organized her thoughts and put them into words before posting an official response

“Dear fans, I am truly sorry for taking so long to speak up and say something.I haven’t been able to come online and respond to your requests as I have spent the past two days in bed being ill met Miss Natalie Quinn when I was the spokesperson of the Larson

Group’s clothing brand.I liked her immediately and hoped to be friends with her.As for what happened the other day by the lake, I

believe she didn’t really mean it.I hope that everyone will stop attacking her”

It seemed on the surface that she was speaking for Natalie, but in fact, she not only made it clear that it was Natalie who pushed her into the water, but also implied that she had been friendly and nice to Natalie.

She was trying to imply two messages.

For one, Natalie had a problem with her, so she pushed her into the lake.

For another, she wanted everyone to think that she couldn’t respond sooner because she was too sick to surf the Internet.

Emani’s post instantly infuriated the netizens.

Many fans were swift to comment and hurl curses at Natalie “Emani, please take care of yourself and don’t wear yourself out because of that bitch.”

“You are too kind, E.Talking about her will only give her more attention.I bet she’s proud of what she’s done to you.”

“E, you are the nicest person ever.How could that bitch treat you like that?”

Emani replied to these comments one by one.

Lo and behold, she succeeded in winning everyone’s sympathy.

As a star, she knew well what fans could do and that cyber-bullying could destroy a person.

Just ten minutes later, her post started to trend on every social media platform on the Internet.

Emani switched to another account with a different username and kept riling up her fans.

At this time, she received a call from Ritchie.

“Miss Gomez, I am impressed.Slinging mud at Natalie even in such a late hour,” Ritchie said, snorting in derision.

Judging from the music playing in the background, Emani guessed that he was in some club.

“Well, I’m not doing anything she doesn’t deserve.She put her foster mom in jail and cheated on her husband with a CEO. This is her retribution,” Emani said calmly.

The fact that she was destroying someone’s life didn’t seem like a big deal to her at all.

Natalie’s reputation got dragged through the mud now that the news was spreading like wildfire.

In truth, although Emani wasn’t a big fan of Natalie, she didn’t really have that much against her either.

She did what she did just to use Natalie to curry favor with Ritchie.

“Mr.Klein, do you have any plans later on? I am all yours.”

Emani smiled, whispering in a seductive voice, Emani got to this from an oblivious actress, so she knew well how things worked in the industry.

With a glass of wine in his hand, Ritchie chuckled playfully.

He always had a soft spot for women who were obedient.

With a domineering voice, he said, “You are doing a good job now.”

In truth, he was quite impressed with what Emani had managed to do till now, so he encouraged her.

Laney swept her eyes across the crowd and clenched her fists.

“If I don’t make a move now, we might not be able to escape this place unscathed!”

“Don’t act as though we’re the bad guys here.Emani is still in the hospital. She’s such a kind-hearted woman! How could she ever offend you?” a girl said loudly, glaring at Natalie.

Right after she spoke, the fans grew more emboldened and agitated.

“Yeah! Emani never hurt you before, you bitch!”

“No wonder your parents deserted you! I heard that you even put your foster mother in prison! What an ungrateful child! Sisters, let’s bring Emani justice today!”

From the very beginning, Natalie had lowered her head and didn’t dare to provoke them.She didn’t want any trouble and thought that she could put up with this.

However, she didn’t expect that the girls would bring up her family.

“You don’t know what really happened.I’ve never hurt Emani.”

Finally, she raised her head and confronted them head on.

However, these fans were like rabid dogs.

One of them even threw an egg at Natalie, cursing, “You fucking bitch! You still won’t admit to your crimes?”

“Beat her! Sisters, somebody needs to teach this bitch a lesson!”

“Why are you acting like the victim? Do you think you can talk your way out of this?”

Before Natalie could defend herself, the crazy fans threw more eggs at her face.

Someone even shoved her from behind.

Unable to bear it any longer, Laney snapped impatiently, “Can’t you talk like decent human beings? You don’t have to resort to violence!”

“What’re you saying? She can push Emani into a lake and we can’t hit her? Looks like this bitch’s friend is also a bitch!”

“Enough with the bullshit! Beat the crap out of them already!” Chaos ensued.

The angry mob kept throwing whatever they had at Natalie.

Natalie and Laney were definitely outnumbered and there was no way for Laney to protect Natalie well while fighting their way out.

What with all the projectiles being thrown at them, they didn’t have the chance to call Sebastian.

As the two women were anxiously trying to escape, several security guards showed up.

“Enough! You’re in a shopping mall.If you have any personal problems, solve them outside!”

The security guards began to forcibly evacuate the crazy fans.

Before Laney and Natalie could make their escape, one of the security guards singled them out and took them to the mall’s administrative office.

Still shocked from what happened, Natalie followed the security guards in a daze and didn’t even bother to wipe the eggs in her hair.

“What on earth happened?”

The man’s voice sounded familiar.She looked up in surprise.

Sure enough, it was Kent.

Seeing the shocked expression on Natalie’s face, Kent couldn’t help but chuckle.

The woman before him looked so goofy at the moment.

Removing the egg shells from her hair, he asked, “Why are you so surprised?”

When Natalie finally gathered her bearings, she turned her face away and murmured, “Thanks.”

Kent threw the pieces of egg shells on the ground and frowned with disgust.

While wiping his fingers carefully with a handkerchief, he teased, “You’re always getting into trouble, aren’t you?”

“Why are you here?” Natalie answered his question with another.

“I own this shopping mall.I came here today on a routine inspection and I happened to see you being besieged by those girls, silly.”

As Kent spoke, there was a trace of affection in his eyes, which he himself didn’t notice.

Knowing that Natalie didn’t like him and didn’t want to spend any more time talking to him, Kent pointed to an exit and said, “You can leave through there instead of the front.Emani’s fans might be outside waiting for you.”

Staring at the exit, Natalie felt somewhat uneasy.She reached for Laney’s hand and turned to leave.

Just before she pushed the door open, she looked back hesitantly and mumbled, “Thanks, Kent.I owe you one.”

Kent turned to look at Natalie’s delicate face.

She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but there was something about her eyes that made her stand out. What was it about her that obsessed him?

Natalie saw Kent looking at her steadily, as though he was thinking about something.she couldn’t understand what that look meant, but she couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable, what with Kent’s eyes being glued to her.

Unable to hold his gaze any longer, she raised her voice and asked awkwardly, “Did you hear me?”

Her question brought Kent back to his senses.

He felt as though he was going insane.

Recently, he hadn’t been himself.

He wasn’t exactly sick, but he had been feeling listless until he saw Natalie.

He didn’t know how long it had been since he had last been with a woman.

Ever since he met Natalie, he hadn’t even looked at another woman.

At first, he thought it was because he couldn’t get Natalie to fall in love with him that he felt drawn to her, prohibiting him from moving on to the next woman.

He didn’t want things to be like this. Wasn’t it better to keep playing the game than to commit to one woman who didn’t even like him?

Wanting to go back to his old self, he started gaing to all kinds of clubs and bars, but something felt different.Kent hadn’t noticed it at first until one of his friends made a casual comment about it.

“So, Kent, when did you change your type?”

“What do you mean?” Kent looked at him in confusion.

“You like young and innocent girls with big, bright eyes now! That wasn’t your type before.”

As if waking up from a dream, Kent blinked and stared at the woman in his arms carefully.

After a moment’s pause, Kent had to down a bottle of wine.

Since then, he had been having trouble getting Natalie off his mind.

The harder he tried, the more stuck he was.

One day, he had one bottle too many.

It suddenly occurred to his drunk self that a friend of his had once predicted that he’d be in love with someone who didn’t love him back, and that was the price he had to pay for breaking too many girls’ hearts.

Now, his friend’s prediction had come true.

“Of course you owe me one-a big one, at that.Since you brought it up, you should start thinking about how you can repay me.How about more than just a dinner this time?”

Kent smiled at Natalie gently.

However, this only made Natalie feel even more uncomfortable.

The look in Kent’s eyes was so strangely affectionate.

Rubbing the goose bumps on her arms, she skirted around the topic and said, “Let’s talk about it later. We have to go now. You don’t want Emani’s crazy fans to keep waiting at the gate, do you?”

“Be careful,” Kent said politely.

His affectionate tone sent a shiver down Natalie’s spine.

She hurried out, Laney in tow.

The exit led to a back alley behind the shopping mall.

After they made it to the street, they hailed a taxi and went straight home.

A mob of reporters and Emani’s fans were blocking the entrance to their neighborhood.

The fans held up placards as though they were in a rally.

“Natalie, you bitch!”

“Come out and apologize!”

Natalie and Laney hid in a convenience store near the neighborhood.

Natalie popped her head out to sneak a look at what was going on outside.

The gate was completely blocked.

Not even a fly would be able to sneak past without getting caught.

“I think I underestimated the Internet.I had no idea those brainless fans would find your address so soon.” Laney frowned.

She wished they could force their way in.She was skilled at combat, and she knew she could defeat all of them in minutes.

Natalie bit her lower lip in frustration.

Just as she was about to say something, however, her phone buzzed in her bag.

The worry on her face melted away when she saw the caller ID.

“Sebastian,” she said, with relief in her voice.

“I noticed you downstairs. Take the path behind the store.I’ve told the security guards to open another door for you.”

From where he was upstairs, Sebastian parted the curtain and watched what was going on downstairs.

Natalie did as he suggested and headed towards the back of the store.

Thankfully there was no one there.

Dragging Laney behind her, she rushed through the back gate quickly.

“You shouldn’t take the elevator since you might bump into someone. The stairs are safer,” Sebastian reminded her over the phone.

With an obedient nod, Natalie started climbing the stairs.She dropped Laney off on her floor and continued on her way up.

By the time she reached the 22nd floor, she was out of breath.

She headed to her apartment and the door opened from the inside before she could knock.

Sebastian glanced around behind her to make sure she wasn’t followed before dragging her in.

“What on earth happened to you?”

A frown scrunched up Sebastian’s face as he looked at the messy state her clothes were in.

“I accidentally bumped into someone and their eggs went all over me.Why didn’t you go to work today?”

Natalie gave a tired smile.

“Today is Sunday.Did you forget?” Sebastian said, looking down at her.

Natalie did forget.

Her mind was still disorganized after dealing with those brainless fans outside.

“Right.Anyway, I need to take a shower.”

She was stinking.

“I saw the video and the posts on Twitter.”

Sebastian walked over to help her take off her coat, then headed to the bathroom to prepare the hot water for her.

“You should take a shower first.Let’s talk when you’re done.”

He was being so calm and gentle.It was strange.

Natalie gave a meek nod.

She was exhausted and needed a relaxing shower.

She came out of the bathroom to the smell of delicious food in the living room.

Sebastian who was wearing an apron looked so domesticated and sweet as he set dishes on the table.

“Come, let’s eat,” he said.

“I don’t really feel like eating right now…” Natalie said softly as she wiped her hair, looking depressed.

“I already know about how you were abused by Emani’s fans.Refusing to eat won’t get you anything except for a stomach ache.”

Sebastian said, putting the plate in front of her.

“Sit and eat.”

After a few seconds of initial hesitation, Natalie pulled out a chair and sat down.She only managed to get a few mouthfuls of food down before tears welled up in her eyes.

She said in a weepy voice, “I didn’t do it.”

It was only in front of Sebastian that she stopped pretending to be tough.

She had been really scared.

When Emani’s fans attacked her, she really wanted to cry but tried her best to hold her tears back.

“If this goes on, I wouldn’t be able to live a normal life.Gerda called me today, and I’m sure everyone in the company knows about it already.I think I’m going to take a day off tomorrow.”

Natalie was at war with a very large group of unreasonable people.She tried explaining to Emani’s fans today, but no one listened to her.

They had been instigated and didn’t care what she had to say.

They only believed what they wanted to believe.

Sebastian’s eyes darkened as he thought of the situation.

“Take two days off for now. You should stay at home since it’s safer here.” Natalie asked for a leave, and Tiffany approved it quickly.

Sebastian didn’t go to work either.

He stayed at home with Natalie and kept her off the Internet.

He didn’t want her to see the negative comments since they would only make her more depressed.

Gerda let out a long sigh.

She paid a lot of attention to what people were gossiping about in the entertainment circle.She knew firsthand that many stars liked to incite their fans on purpose in order to fight their battles.

It was not shocking at all to see these tricks in the trade, but she felt that it was a little off that someone would use this to deal with a nonentity like Natalie.

“I want to clarify this matter on Twitter.” Natalie wasn’t willing to give up without a fight.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.Now, what those fans are trying to do is dox you and dig up any dirt they can find on you. If you show them your Twitter account, they’ll hunt you down and make your life a living hell!”

Gerda exclaimed in a loud voice.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally said, “Natalie, you have no idea how serious the situation really is.”

Gerda’s meaningful silence told Natalie that there was more to this matter than just the video and reports.

After hanging up the phone call, Gerda sent over a bunch of screenshots and messages to Natalie.

“The fans are discussing this here. They have uncovered a ton of things about Emani and you.”

One of the things about the Internet was that anything that happened there left behind traces.

Natalie swiped her phone screen to see what Gerda had sent her.

Emani’s fans had done some investigating and found out what had happened to her and Emani at the ball — that she and Emani had on the same dress, but she had refused to change her outfit, going on to embarrass Emani in public.

Other than that, they also discovered that she had gone out of her way to humiliate Emani in the jewelry store.

From the fan’s perspective, this was all Natalie’s fault.

Emani was the innocent victim here.

They also discovered that Natalie was one of the designers at the Larson Group.

So they easily came to the conclusion that she must’ve been picking on Emani at her job, and that must be the reason why the

Larson Group did not renew their contract with Emani.

Of course, these were all groundless rumors.

Altogether, Natalie believed that the gossip was too ridiculous and illogical.She was only an ordinary designer.

How could her words have any weight on Emani’s contract? As time passed by, more and more of Natalie’s personal information was exposed to the public.

The type of things being discussed included her family background, the conflict between her and the Quinn family, and the vicious rumor that she had sex with a senior partner of the Larson Group.

These rumors and slanders circulated on the Internet and before long, they became viral.

The netizens who had no idea about the truth all thought that Natalie had been a scheming bitch her entire life.

Even some netizens who initially were neutral came to believe these baseless rumors and joined those fans opposing her to criticize her.

The more Natalie watched behind the scenes, the more restless she got.

After that, she reopened the chat history Gerda had sent her.

“She’s really so ungrateful.She actually sent her foster parents to prison. This fact alone is really chilling”

“I can hardly believe it. This kind of thing is actually happening in our time and age.Sure enough, bad people everywhere are all heartless creatures.I can see that Natalie is a born bitch.”

“This woman deserves to die a painful and lonely death. It’s been rumored that she has had an affair with a senior partner of the

Larson Group.She’s a perfect example of someone using her body to get her way to the top.”

“Do you have any clue where she lives?”

The chat was filled with slander and abuse toward Natalie.

Noticing Natalie’s extremely pale face, Laney took her phone away and said in a serious voice, “Don’t look at or listen to those people. We can’t do anything about them now. They’re just brainless automatons out to get you. You don’t need to pay any attention to them.”

Natalie had been treated unfairly ever since she was a child.

But, not once in her life had she ever been slandered by so many people at once.

The malicious comments online made her furious.She had to take several deep breaths before she managed to calm down.

“I know what to do. There’s no need to argue with people like them.They’re biased and paranoid.Besides, I’m not the kind of person they think I am.If I were to break down and argue with them, Emani would be thrilled.”

Despite looking gentle and timid, Natalie had grown to become a strong woman because of all the hardships she had gone through since she was a child.

“We should go home as soon as possible.Brainless fans like them are capable of all sorts of crazy stuff.It’s not safe for you to stay outside.”

Laney happened to read some of the comments online just now.It was difficult for good people to triumph over evil ones, because the latter had no morality whatsoever.

Once their haircuts were finished, Natalie and Laney left the salon in a hurry. The shopping mall was crowded.

While Natalie was walking with her head down, someone recognized her.

“Natalie Quinn?” the person exclaimed from behind her.

“Don’t look back.” Laney sensed that something was amiss.

She wanted to stop Natalie, but it was all too late.

Natalie looked back instinctively and saw that several girls that were behind them rushed over and stopped in front of them.

“Humph! It really is Natalie Quinn. How dare you come out on the streets, you bitch?”

The girl was holding a poster of Emani, which only meant that she was one of Emani’s diehard fans.Six seventeen-year-old girls were now surrounding Laney and Natalie.

They pointed at the two ladies and shouted, “Apologize to Emani, bitch!”

“We should push you into the lake and make you feel just how cold it is to be soaked in ice-cold water!”

“Emani caught a cold and was sent to the hospital, while here you are, shopping with not a care in the world.Don’t you have a heart? Don’t you feel even a little bit guilty? You deserved to be abandoned by your parents, you jinx!”

“Get the hell out of our way and talk shit somewhere else!”

Laney stood in front of Natalie with a stern look.

With her strength, she could easily kick these little bitches’ asses.

But right now, Natalie’s reputation was already at rock bottom.

If word got out that they hit Emani’s fans, it could get even worse and things would become even harder to clear out.

“You think you can just run away after what you’ve done? Hell no! Call them over, Natalie! We’re going to avenge Emani today!”

one of the resentful fans said.

The other girl took out her phone and began to make phone calls.

Fearing that it would become harder for them to escape once the girls’ friends arrived, Laney grabbed Natalie’s hand, intending to take her away.

However, the other girls blocked their path and made phone calls.

In just a few minutes, Natalie and Laney were surrounded by more of Emani’s rabid fans.

“Sisters! Those are the two demons who pushed Emani down the lake! Don’t let them get away!”

Several of her die-hard fans immediately rushed over and jumped into the lake without a second’s hesitation.

They managed to grab hold of her by her arms and swim back to shore with her safely in tow.

The crowd surged forward and surrounded them.

One of the fans shouted with anxious urgency, “Call an ambulance! Stop! Stop shooting!”

Meanwhile, Laney sneered from the spot where she had remained seated.

These people were really making a disproportionate deal of this.

For crying out loud, it was a man-made lake.

It was actually very shallow and people really couldn’t drown in it.

Further, Emani was over 5.5 ft tall.

If she stood up, the water may not have been able to submerge her.

However, had been bitterly cold for the last few days.It had snowed a few days ago and the temperature was still around zero degrees Celsius.

Because of this, it had really been a traumatic ordeal for Emani.

When Emani’s fans took her to the shore, she was soaked to the bone.

She was shivering with cold, and her face was pale.Her long, usually voluptuous and curly hair was plastered flat against her face.Her makeup was ruined, and she looked utterly haggard and miserable.

“What happened?”

Hearing the noise, Emani’s assistant and the other crew members rushed over.

The assistant quickly wrapped her with a blanket and asked anxiously, “Miss Gomez, what happened? How did you fall into the lake all of a sudden?”

Emani drew the blanket tightly around herself and trembled, as if she was still in a state of shock.

She kept shaking her head, and then looked through the crowd at Natalie, who was standing beside the lake.

Emani looked hesitant, as if she wanted to say something but decided it best to keep mum.

Someone in the crowd pointed at Natalie and said, “That woman pushed Emani on purpose!”

Emani’s assistant also turned to look at Natalie.

Emani’s fans and the reporters also looked at her.

After a few seconds, Emani said with an unnatural, slightly wry smile, “I am fine now.Don’t gather here.I should get back to work now. There’s still a lot of work to be covered later.Don’t let me slow you down.”

Her assistant rolled her eyes at Natalie and pulled Emani to her feet carefully.

Emani’s fans glowered at Natalie with deep-seated contempt.

“You are so raw! You didn’t even offer an apology.”

“Everyone saw it clearly.She pushed Emani.”

“Well, Emani is too kind-hearted.She decided to let it slide. We don’t want to get Emani in trouble.”

“She did it just because she knew Emani wouldn’t fight back!”

The crowd all whispered under their breath and left the lake area behind Emani.

Watching them leave, Natalie felt a little unsettled.

“Let’s go back too,” Laney said, holding her arm and walking with her when she noticed how awkward she looked.

“Don’t think too much of it.I Know you didn’t push her.”

“But they all think I did it.” Natalie felt wronged.

She had the feeling that it hadn’t been an accident at all and that Emani purposely threw herself into the water of her own volition.

Emani didn’t get along with Natalie.

In all likelihood, Emani did this to set her up and cast her in a bad light.

Having heard Laney’s remark, Natalie forced herself not to dwell on it too much.

Considering the fact that there were a lot of people here, she figured that at least half of them should’ve seen that she didn’t push Emani.

Sadly, she completely underestimated the power of Emani’s fans to incite public opinion.

Not only did they have bad eyesight, but they were also selectively blind.

The next day, Natalie went to a hairdresser to get a haircut.She felt that her bangs were getting too long, so she took Laney with her to a salon.

The hairdresser was a handsome man in his early twenties.He had short spiky hair, and he was quite adept at flattery.

“This hairstyle suits you perfectly. Hold on a second. You’re an actress, aren’t you? I think I’ve seen you somewhere before!”

“Has that pickup line ever worked for you?” Natalie bantered.

It was indeed an old pickup line

The next second, the hairdresser took out his phone, opened a video, and handed it to Natalie.

“I’m serious.Have a look at this! You look exactly the same.ls she your sister or something?”

When Natalie saw what was on the screen, she was taken aback.

Someone had secretly taken a video of her and Emani by the lake yesterday, and it had been posted online.

Natalie lagged onto Twitter to read more about the news.

After a few minutes, she had fully grasped the entire story.

There was an entertainment news report regarding Emani falling into the water while she was taking a break on the set.

And now, she had caught a cold and had to stop filming.

Many fans were concerned about her health and left many comments regarding this matter.

Most of them guessed that someone must’ve pushed Emani into the water.

The video showed that Natalie and Emani were just sitting by the water at first.

Without the intervention of outside force, one wouldn’t easily fall into the water.

When they took a closer look, they noticed that Natalie moved her arm slightly.

It was as if she was trying to break free of Emani’s grip.

Moreover, Emani’s reaction during the situation was quite odd.

If she didn’t fall into the water by accident, the only reasonable explanation was that the person sitting beside her had pushed her into the water.

And that person happened to be Natalie.

Natalie scowled while reading through the comments.She then checked Emani’s page again.

There, many fans had already left numerous impassioned comments.

“Emani, everyone is waiting for you to recover! Tell us what happened.Shed light on the situation.”

“We’ll always support you!”

“Did that woman shove you?”

“Who even was that woman? We should dox her!”

“Right.We should do that bitch. want to know what’s going on between her and Emani.How dare she do something like that? I’m gonna rip her head off!”

However, Emani didn’t provide any explanations.

It was as if she had acquiesced to her fans ‘sentiments, At this point, Natalie really wanted to speak up.

Just then, she got a call from Gerda.

“Girl, have you seen the trending video on Twitter? The woman in the video looks like you,” Gerda said anxiously

“Itis me,” replied Natalie.

Surprised by the response, Gerda said, “Seriously? I don’t believe you’d do something like that!”

She was one of Emani’s fans.

There was a time when she was so enamored by her looks.

She had even joined her fan club, so she could hear first hand news on Emani.

Gerda took a deep breath and said to Natalie, “You should be careful.I saw some of Emani’s fans discussing something in the fan club’s group chat. They said that they intend to dox you!”

Clenching her teeth tightly, Natalie said, “There’s more to the story than what’s on the video.”

“I believe you.But Emani just so happened to be a popular actress who had starred in several hot trending TV shows.Now she has a huge following.Also, most of her fans are young and radical. This means the cards are stacked against you. There are very few people who would believe your story.”

After this incident, her impression of Garrett had become slightly marred.

“He is definitely a playboy. He dumped that woman so readily, which must mean he hasn’t taken their relationship seriously. No wonder he changes girlfriends so fast, like how some people change clothes,” she thought to herself.

After saying goodbye to Natalie, she made her way to Garrett’s office to work. In order not to look suspicious, she had begun to learn about her job as a secretary. She thought that at least she should look the part of a secretary. As soon as he entered the office, he saw Laney sorting through the documents and arranging his meeting schedules.

“You don’t have to do all these things. Just leave them to my assistant to attend to,” he said.

Garrett walked to Laney and tried to take the documents from her grasp, but she quickly dodged him with a blank expression on her face.

Laney left with the documents in her hands and said in an icy tone, “Mr. Harding, this forms part of my job as your secretary.

Besides, please keep a distance from me from now on. Thank you.”

She didn’t want to stay in his presence a moment longer, so she turned on her heel and was about to leave.For no reason,

Garrett felt annoyed. Laney’s attitude towards him was now obviously colder and more removed than before.

“Don’t mind what happened yesterday.” Garrett’s voice came from behind Laney.

Laney looked sideways and frowned, “Mr. Harding, you don’t need to explain this to me. Your behavior now will only make others misunderstand the relationship between us.”

She then closed the office door, leaving him standing alone in the room. He didn’t know how to explain the true situation to her, nor did he know why he actually wanted to explain it to her. She was just there to be Natalie’s bodyguard. Garrett took a seat in his chair in an irritable mood.

He didn’t even understand why he handled what had happened yesterday the way he did.

Indeed, he liked to date young, energetic and beautiful women. Although he had never fallen in love with any of them, he was good at buttering women up and charming them.

It was simply a misunderstanding and all he needed to do was to spend some time charming the pants off Tracey, which would be an easy task for him. With just a few new luxury bags, Tracey would forgive him. Moreover, he and Tracey had only been together for two months and there hadn’t been many problems.

Even if there were, they would be easy to solve. However, after they had got home and he tried to explain the situation to Tracey, she still wouldn’t let it go. Somehow, he felt exhausted and soon lost his patience. That was when he really wanted to end things with her.

Laney had been in a bad mood the entire week after the incident. Natalie knew that she was still blaming herself for the problem between Garrett and his girlfriend.

Therefore, she planned to go shopping with Laney on Saturday to cheer her up. She bought some chicken nuggets from a shop on the street. It was a cold wintry day; the perfect season to enjoy hot, fried chicken. Natalie put a chicken nugget into Laney’s mouth.

“Stop sulking! It has been one whole week. Perhaps the misunderstanding between Garrett and his girlfriend is cleared by now.

They might have gotten back together already.” After eating the nugget, Laney let out a weary sigh.

‘I don’t think so. They have really broken up, you know.”

Natalie was taken aback.

“Even so, it’s no big deal,” she comforted Laney.

“It was just a misunderstanding. None of it is your fault. Anyway, Garrett changes girlfriends faster than he changes his clothes.

Perhaps he was just tired of his girlfriend again.”

Laney smiled but didn’t say anything. She understood that Natalie was trying to make her feel better. However, her words didn’t seem to help. She had to figure this out herself.

After shopping, they went to a scenic spot that had recently opened in Seasisco. Natalie pointed at the lofty mountain and said, “I heard on the news that the snow would rime the mountain, making it look like a huge ice cream cone.”

She wanted to somehow make Laney feel better, and nothing better could uplift one’s mood than the beauty of nature.

Unexpectedly, a crew was filming there. As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw that people had gathered around to watch the shoot.

Natalie wasn’t interested in celebrities. But if Laney liked them, she didn’t mind joining her.

“Do you like stars?”

‘I only like action movie stars.” Laney smiled.

It seemed like they were shooting a soap opera. A huge crowd had gathered, and they couldn’t squeeze their way inside.

At last, the two of them found a quiet place by the lake and sat down. Just as Natalie wondered what to say to make Laney feel better, she heard someone call her name.

“Natalie!” The voice sounded familiar. She turned around and saw a female star greeting her from a distance.

As the woman walked closer, Natalie recognized her. Emani’s contract with the Larson Group had just expired. She was no longer the spokesperson of the Larson Group’s clothing brand, which meant Emani didn’t have to try being friends with Natalie anymore.

“You just saw me. Why didn’t you come and talk to me? Luckily, I have good eyesight, so I recognized you from afar.” Emani was wearing bright lip gloss. She smiled, revealing her pearly teeth that made her look kind and innocent.

However, Natalie was on guard. Emani was acting weird, and weird meant dangerous. The woman had never liked Natalie. Why would she be so nice to her all of a sudden? Something seemed fishy.

Natalie had no intention of talking to Emani. However, a group of reporters and fans had already gathered around Emani, taking pictures.

If Natalie were rude or impolite, Emani’s fans would wreck her life.

“There were too many people, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Natalie smiled and turned to leave. However, Emani immediately grabbed Natalie’s hand and sat beside her as if they were great friends.

“We haven’t seen each other for a long time. How have you been? Have you gotten over what happened?” A frown lined Natalie’s forehead.

“What’s wrong with her? Why is she asking such stupid questions? We don’t even really know each other.”

With a resounding slosh, the lake water splashed in all directions from the impact.

“Emani!”

Natalie was wholly taken aback by the unexpected incident.

The fans and reporters around were all flabbergasted by what they had just witnessed.

“What happened?!”

“Everything was fine a moment ago! What happened?”

Emani screamed and thrashed about in the water as she bellowed for help.

“Help! Somebody help! Please! Help me!”

Garrett didn’t know what to say at this point.

He couldn’t tell Tracey who Laney really was, so he figured he should turn to Sebastian for help. But when he glanced around the table, he noticed that Sebastian and Natalie were nowhere to be found.

“Let’s not talk about this here. We should talk about this once we’re home, okay?” Garrett stood from his seat, grabbed Tracey’s hand, and was about to leave the restaurant

However, Tracey was riled up again. “Why can’t we talk here, huh? Are you afraid that your little mistress will find out the truth?”

She then glanced at Laney and growled, “You uneducated slut! Didn’t your parents teach you not to seduce someone else’s boyfriend?”

Even Garrett found Tracey’s words too harsh. He squeezed her hand and gently rebuked her.

“Tracey, play nice.”

Laney had always been an upstanding person, and she’d never been insulted like this. She stood up, wore a straight face, and said, “Miss, I am not seducing Mr. Harding here. We’re simply having a meal together. Besides, we weren’t on our own! Our other colleagues were with us earlier.”

Tracey glared at her and grunted, “Lie all you want; that’s not going to help!”

After saying that, she turned to Garrett and tugged on his sleeve.

“Garrett, since you say that there’s nothing going on between you two, fire her if you want me to believe you!”.

The latter shook his head, adjusted his glasses, and put on a stern face.

“I can’t just fire her! I don’t even have the authority to do that.”

This was something that he couldn’t decide by himself. He still had to discuss it with Sebastian first.

Now, Tracey was even angrier than before.

“You’re supposed to be in a high position in the Larson Group and you can’t even fire your own secretary? So, you really were lying just now, weren’t you?”

Right after she finished speaking, she overturned the table in anger.

Laney was quick to react. She darted backwards to avoid getting hit.

The tableware fell to the ground in an instant. The noise was so loud that it attracted the attention of the other guests dining here.

Now, everyone was staring at them.

Laney managed to duck away in time, however, Garrett wasn’t able to. He stood there in a complete daze as the food splattered all over his tailored suit.

He was usually very gentle and tolerant towards women, but when he saw Tracey throwing tantrums in public it was hard for him not to get angry.

Fortunately, he was a well-educated man and exhibited none of the anger he was feeling at the time.

“Tracey, people are dining here. Don’t embarrass yourself as well as ruin their night.”

After having said that, he went on to say in a calm voice, ‘I’ll never do anything that’s against moral codes. You can make a scene if you want but don’t do it in a public place. Let’s discuss some more about this after we get back, all right?”

Noticing that he appeared angry, Tracey became timid and didn’t say a word, Garrett grabbed hold of her hand and they proceeded to walk out of the restaurant together.

Before he left, Garrett turned to look back at Laney and apologized, “I need to head out now. Please let Sebastian and Natalie know that the restaurant damages and the meal will be on me.”

Afterward, he said after a moment of hesitation, “I’m sorry you had an unpleasant meal just now. I’ll make it up to you later.”

Watching his receding back, Laney didn’t say a word. It was not until Garrett was gone did she start to help the staff clean up the mess.

Laney kept her face devoid of expression, but she certainly felt stuffy in her chest. She didn’t do anything wrong, but today, she was treated like a mistress and a slut.

She played the role as Garrett’s secretary simply to stay close to Natalie and protect her. She never wanted to get involved in Garrett’s private life in the first place.

With that in mind, how could she sleep with him? But now, she was being called an ambitious slut who tried to sleep her way to the top, which was ridiculous.

Ten minutes later. Sebastian proceeded to walk out of the bathroom holding Natalie’s hand in his. Natalie walked slowly with her cheeks blushing and her lips swollen. After walking into the room and seeing that the waiters were cleaning up and that their table had been replaced by a new one, Sebastian furrowed his brows and asked, “Was there a fight just now?”

Looking at the oil stains all over the floor, Natalie quickly walked to Laney and asked her, “Were you hurt? You should have gone with me just now.”

Earlier, before Natalie could get a grasp on what was going on, she had been dragged into the bathroom by Sebastian… Laney forced out a smile and said, “It’s fine. I think the meal has already ended. Let’s head back.”

After coming back home, Laney mulled it over in her head for a while and sent a message to Sebastian. She didn’t want such misunderstandings to occur again in the future which was why she let Sebastian know in the message that she did not want to continue working as Garrett’s secretary anymore and asked him to find her another job with very little importance to do in the

Larson Group. Anyway, what she really was here for was to protect Natalie.

At night, after Natalie fell asleep, Sebastian got Laney’s message and decided to give Garrett a call.

“How are things right now?” This was the first time that Sebastian had ever gone out of his way to ask about Garrett’s private life.

This was only because Sebastian knew that he was the cause of the problem, so he thought he should bring it up.

“It’s fine. I have handled the maiter,” Garrett said in a calm and even tone.

“Since you’ve got it handled, I want to have a chat with you about Laney. She sent me a text, saying that she wanted me to find her another position. She was concerned that your girlfriend would make a scene about her being your secretary again and cause unnecessary trouble for you and the company. I thought I should discuss this matter with you first before I decide anything.”

Sebastian was silent for a few seconds before he said, “I agree with what Laney said. There shouldn’t be any more problems after we give her another job.”

Hearing this, Garrett appeared a bit excited.

“You can’t just go about things randomly. Tell her she has nothing to worry about. Tracey doesn’t have enough trust in me. I

have already broken up with her. Laney can continue working as my secretary. This job is the perfect undercover disguise for someone like her.”

When Sebastian had told Laney about Garrett’s words, it made her feel wholly uneasy and unsettled. Instead of feeling comforted, she was even more worried and restless than before.

On the next day, and as a consequence of their chat, she looked utterly listless when she went to work.

The instant Natalie laid eyes on her, she sensed that something was amiss.

“Are you still thinking about what happened between Garrett and his girlfriend yesterday?” Natalie asked tentatively, touching her arm gently. Laney didn’t feel like there was any need to hide anything.

“I feel so overcome by guilt. I was the reason for their breakup.”

For her entire employment as a bodyguard, she had never become entangled in any of her employers’ private affairs, let alone accused of being a slut. But Sebastian was her boss, and she had no option but to follow his instructions.

Natalie didn’t want to see her take all the blame for what had transpired between the couple. She peered around before she whispered in Laney’s ear, “To be honest, I think Mr. Harding is partly to blame. There was nothing between you two, and we all know that. But he has a reputation of being a player, so even if it wasn’t you, he would have been having a meal with another woman yesterday, and the same thing would have happened to that woman.”

When Laney heard this rationale, she nodded. Even if she tried not to think about it now, she would inadvertently do so when she met Garrett later.