Chapter 704 Exposed
With the right offer, there was bound to be someone who would step forward to do the job.
Emilia found a paparazzo who specialized in exposing scandals of celebrities online. Moreover, this person had an influential background! Most celebrities didn’t dare to mess with him even if they were targeted. Instead, they preferred to pay him off to settle the disputes.
Emilia saw this as an opportunity and eagerly arranged to meet him in person. The meeting was scheduled for tomorrow.
“It is indeed wise to approach me, Ms. Steele. As for Victoria, she’s quite well–known in the entertainment industry overseas. After I gather her scandalous materials tonight, I will show them to you when we meet tomorrow. The payment shall be made then. You will be satisfied!” the paparazzo declared confidently.
Emilia thought he was being overconfident, so she intentionally poured cold water on him. “I will decide whether the information in your hands is valuabl
or not only after I personally verify it. You have until
tomorrow, she said skeptically.
Without waiting for the man to respond, Emilia hung up resolutely.
She purposely portrayed herself as difficult to deal with to deter him from plotting against her.
After carrying out her plan, Emilia slipped into her dreams filled with beautiful fantasies of destroying
Victoria.
The next morning, Christina was awakened from her sleep by Victoria’s frantic phone calls.
Nathaniel had already left for work.
Forced to wake up, Christina answered the call with a hint of annoyance. “Who is it?”
“Christina…” Victoria’s voice was filled with grief and sorrow. “Christina, you have to help me this time…”
Christina paused for a few seconds. When her mind processed the situation, she comforted, “Don’t cry, Victoria. Take your time and tell me what happened.”
After a few hiccups and sobs, Victoria continued, “My relationship with Sebastian has been exposed. After my family found out, they strongly opposed it. They are pressuring me to break up with Sebastian. If I don’t, they will cause trouble for him.”
The Lesleys‘ reactions and actions were completely within Christina’s expectations.
“Christina, my parents want to send me abroad, so I ran away. But I didn’t take my wallet or phone with me. Can you come over? I haven’t told Sebastian because I don’t want to worry him,” Victoria pleaded.
Victoria made the call using a stranger’s phone. She had climbed over the wall and fled when the sky was still dark in her thin silk pajamas. As a result, she had been shivering in the biting cold for half an hour.
“Where are you? I’ll come to you right away,” Christina said as she hurriedly got out of bed.
After Victoria provided an address, Christina instructed her to find a nearby restaurant to order some food and rest. They would talk about the rest in detail after she made her way there.
Upon ending the call, Christina quickly freshened up, changed her clothes, and hurried downstairs.
Lyle had already been waiting downstairs for a while. When he saw Christina in a rush, he approached her and asked, “Mrs. Hadley, are you going out now?”
Christina was startled by his sudden voice because she didn’t notice him. Placing a hand over her pounding heart, she took a deep breath and smiled at Lyle. “Lyle! You’re back.”
Lyle’s face was devoid of expression. “Yes. I apologize for letting you worry about me, Mrs. Hadley.”
Christina felt apologetic. “Don’t say that. I’m the one who caused you trouble. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Lyle strained the muscles on his cheeks as he tried hard to put on a happy smile. However, he ended up grimacing because he wasn’t used to smiling.
Sensing his thoughts and discomfort, Christina said empathetically, “I’m in a hurry to meet Victoria. Can you please arrange a car for me?”
“Please wait a moment, Mrs. Hadley.” Lyle swiftly turned and left.
Half an hour later, Christina arrived at the restaurant
There were only a few customers inside since it wasn’t peak dining hours at the restaurant.
Christina immediately spotted Victoria sitting alone in a corner, looking dejected and listless. She held a cup of coffee and was lifting it up and putting it down mechanically over and over again.
“What are you doing?” Christina sat down opposite her. “Can your hunger be satisfied just by staring at the coffee?”
Victoria felt even more upset the moment she saw Christina. Her former spirited and confident self had completely vanished, replaced by a sense of helplessness.
“Christina, I have no appetite… I really don’t know what to do, Victoria said in a hoarse voice. “I don’t want to break up with Sebastian. Christina, please give me some advice. I’ll listen to you.”
“Let’s eat first, and then we can think of a solution slowly. We mustn’t rush with such matters.” Christina then asked the waiter for a menu. As Victoria still appeared lost, Christina helped her order a few breakfast dishes. “Sebastian is a*sociated with Nathaniel. He won’t stand by idly. You also have to believe in Sebastian’s ability to resolve issues.”
Victoria sniffled. “I don’t want to cause any trouble for Sebastian. My parents and brother are already upset with me for breaking off the engagement, but I know I’m not at fault for wanting to spend the rest of my life with the person I love. Even if it means giving up my identity as a Lesley, I’m willing to do it.”
After finally finding someone that she genuinely loved, Victoria was unwilling to give up what she had. She refused to become a sacrificial pawn in an arranged marriage.
Christina listened attentively to her innermost thoughts and handed her tissues occasionally,
“Sebastian and I had agreed on when to publicly announce our relationship. We had been very careful throughout this period because we were afraid of being discovered,” Victoria explained. “He proposed to me on a cruise ship, but everything was still fine then. I don’t understand why this was suddenly exposed.”
“Think carefully. Have you recently offended anyone?” Christina reminded her.
Victoria pondered for a moment. “Emilia. It must have been her!”
“Why do you suspect her?” Christina asked.
“I hit Emilia outside a bar last night…” Victoria told Christina about what had happened. “Emilia is wicked and cunning, and she knows about my relationship with Sebastian. She must have found a way to cause trouble for us!”
Victoria spat with hatred, “Emilia Steele! She better not show herself in front of me, or I…”
Suddenly, Victoria slammed the table and stood up, her eyes fixed on something behind Christina. Before Christina could react, Victoria sprinted toward Emilia like an unleashed beast.
Hearing Victoria’s voice from behind her, Emilia instinctively trembled. She ran desperately without looking back, which further convinced Victoria that she was guilty of something.
Victoria’s body seemed to be filled with adrenaline as she ran.
Just as Emilia jumped into the back seat of a taxi and was about to close the car door for an escape, Victoria leaped forward and gripped the door tightly with both hands.
Victoria’s face twisted menacingly. Gritting her teeth, she yelled, “Get out of the car, Emilia!”
Emilia held onto the door handle firmly. “Are you going to attack me again, Victoria?”
The two of them held onto the car door, locked in a tense standoff. It was the first time the taxi driver had witnessed such an intense scene. He stared at the door anxiously, afraid that they would damage it.
He wanted to intervene and stop them, but he was intimidated by their fierce demeanor.
Victoria sneered, “The beating you received from me is nothing compared to the despicable things you’ve done!”
With that said, Victoria held onto the car door with one hand and reached through the window with the other to grab Emilia’s hair. Then, she forcefully dragged her outside of the car in a fit of rage.
Emilia shrieked, “I’m going to kill
you,
Victoria!”
